Andhra Pradesh Minister and TDP National Working President Nara Lokesh shared insights into his political evolution during his address at the Republic Summit 2026.
Reflecting on his journey with a sense of humor and confidence, Lokesh stated that he was once the “second most trolled person in India, after Rahul Gandhi.” When asked to share a piece of advice for the Congress leader based on his own experiences, Lokesh offered a brief, pragmatic response: “You can’t just walk and forget.”
The statement points to Lokesh’s own path toward political reinvention following the Telugu Desam Party’s significant defeat in the 2019 Assembly elections. After facing intense online criticism, trolling, and a personal electoral loss in the Mangalagiri constituency at that time, Lokesh chose to stay rooted in his district rather than move to a safer seat.
His subsequent 2023 “Yuvagalam Padayatra”, a foot march spanning thousands of kilometres across Andhra Pradesh, is widely credited with reshaping his public image, transitioning him from an easy target for online memes into a grounded, capable leader in his own right.
His advice to Gandhi underscores his belief that mass public outreach campaigns must be backed by consistent, localised political execution rather than treated as standalone events.
Lokesh’s demeanour at the summit highlighted a clear shift from the past, focusing heavily on futuristic policy over previous political grievances. Rather than dwelling on past online negativity, the IT Minister used the platform to pitch his vision for Andhra Pradesh’s economic and technological transformation over the next decade.
By focusing the conversation entirely on governance, AI implementation, and job creation, Lokesh demonstrated that a leader’s long-term worth is defined by policy execution and concrete results, rather than the temporary noise of social media trends.
