Already, the chatter in Andhra Pradesh is that Naidu has devolved much of his authority in the party and government to Lokesh, a minister himself, and that it is Kilaru who is supporting the TDP scion in gaining an efficacious control in both fields.
Kilaru is the man behind the successful, but gruelling 3,132 km Yuvagalam padayatra of Nara Lokesh in 2023. The walk, meticulously planned and organised, traversing the state, not only aided in the TDP’s crucial comeback while facing a formidable Jagan Mohan Reddy but also helped Lokesh’s emergence as a mass leader, party leaders say.
During that course, Kilaru was in the news as the Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department (CID), under the YSRCP rule, grilled him in connection with the alleged skills project scam in which Naidu was arrested in September 2023 and kept in jail for 53 days. Kilaru was also under the CID radar over the AP Fibernet and Amaravati Inner Ring Road alignment cases during the TDP’s previous stint in power.
The TDP had then charged Jagan of unleashing the state police power against even Kilaru, for political vendetta. YSRCP leaders accuse Kilaru of having operated as a “shadow minister” during the 2014-19 period.
Kilaru’s journey with Lokesh, through thick and thin, has been on for around 35 years now.
More than anything else, the 42-year-old, not much of a recognised face yet, is known in the state as Nara Lokesh’s friend, his “best chum, man-Friday” as close associates put it. He is also from the same caste group—Kamma.
This friendship blossomed in childhood when they were classmates since primary school at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Hyderabad, located close to the Naidu’s residence in the posh Jubilee Hills.
Kilaru, son of a Chartered Accountant hailing from Vijayawada, used to frequent Naidu’s house to play or combine study with Lokesh in teenage years. He now spends most of the day with Lokesh or the CM at their Undavalli residence near Amaravati, partaking in political work.
An engineering graduate from a Hyderabad college, he then gained a Masters from Robert Morris University, the US.
“Thanks to Rajesh’s closeness to both and the trust they have in him, he is now the connecting link between the extremely busy son-father who might not always get time to discuss some matters face to face,” an associate says.
“Rajesh earned such a place, not just because of his friendship with Lokesh. He is committed, competent and faithful to the core. Naidu-Lokesh agenda is his agenda, nothing else. And he is not one who gets high on power; he is well-aware of his role, responsibilities and limits.”
Abheestha Seethepalli, another US educated friend, school-classmate of Lokesh, who was an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Naidu during his previous tenure reportedly exited the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) in 2015 following controversies, reports of him overstepping his position.
When Naidu was in jail, it was Rajesh, a common friend says, who prodded a dispirited Lokesh to go and camp in Delhi to rally national-level support for the TDP chief. He also accompanied Lokesh in the capital for weeks, while a rumour, as YSRCP alleged, was that he absconded abroad to escape the AP CID probe.
In a rare or only media interaction, Rajesh reacted on the skills project scam and his role, after his extensive questioning by the CID at Tadepalli in mid-October 2023. “I was asked about 25 questions. I made it clear that I have no role whatsoever in the alleged scam. The case itself was fabricated to trouble Naidu garu whom they cannot confront directly. As we deal with it legally, we are only worried about his health and safety (in the Rajahmundry prison),” he had said.
Kilaru has been associated with the TDP since around 2012, invited in by Lokesh after he returned from the US to join his dad during Naidu’s longest phase out of power and influence, i.e., from 2004 to 2014.
For a couple of years before that, Kilaru managed Studio-N, a Hyderabad based news channel known to have functioned as TDP’s mouthpiece. An entrepreneurial mind, Kilaru is into real estate business in Hyderabad.
Kilaru is a state executive secretary in TDP. But his mandate goes much beyond.
Kilaru is now occupied supervising, monitoring all the arrangements for the party’s mega annual conclave next week, to be held in Jagan’s home-turf Kadapa this time.
He had helped Lokesh strengthen the party cadre, organisation even as some leaders left TDP in party’s bleak time. Under Lokesh, the TDP’s membership surpassed one crore mark in January, thanks to a tech enabled drive and the focus on party workers’ welfare like bringing them under a Rs 5 lakh health insurance.
Kilaru is also the TDP leadership’s link with the strong and affluent Non-Resident Telugus support base in countries like the US.
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Old guard left grumpy, officers on watch
However, not everyone in the party is pleased with him. The old guard’s gradual sidelining is attributed to him.
A TDP politburo member and former minister described Kilaru’s influencing role in party affairs as “undeniable”. “During the elections, he was managing the funds for the party and recommended the ticket distribution accordingly,” the senior says. “You can say he is now the principal strategist, the main coordinator in the party, the go-to man. No surprise that everyone wants to be in favour of Kilaru.”
ThePrint reached out to Kilaru over the phone for his reaction. The report will be updated as and when a response is received.
Even seasoned civil servants are aware of Kilaru’s proximity with Naidu and Lokesh and what he is capable of. “For favoured postings Kilaru is the smart channel to take. Rather I would say it is becoming the proper channel in present Naidu tenure,” a senior IAS officer conceded. “As per my knowledge, a few IAS, IPS officers—perceived to be close to Jagan—could finally get postings after taking this recourse.”
A friend of Lokesh and Kilaru said that “given the trouble some AIS officers, acting on Jagan’s command, gave to Naidu, Lokesh and other TDP leaders, Kilaru indeed does some political vetting.” “But he doesn’t judge the officer’s administrative abilities, which is not his arena.”
A Vizag-based industrialist said that though business environment looks conducive and approvals etc were moving at satisfactory pace after Naidu resumed, “we are aware that if there is some trouble, obstacle anywhere, Kilaru is the man to approach.”
“We are given to understand that meeting Kilaru is as good as meeting Lokesh,” the businessman, associated with a prominent chamber of commerce, says.
For some political observers, the Lokesh-Rajesh combination is an inadvertent throwback to that of YSR-KVP, the united AP saw about two decades back.
Former CM Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy and his “alter-ego” K.V.P Ramachandra Rao were also college mates at the Gulbarga Medical College, from where they journeyed together till the former’s demise in a helicopter crash in September 2009.
KVP, officially designated as CM’s advisor, was known as YSR’s diary manager, deal maker in political and business spheres. And like KVP, Rajesh is now expected to go to Delhi as a Rajya Sabha MP.
“Yes, there are some similarities but Lokesh-Rajesh is still the next generation, as Naidu is here to stay and strong for some more years. He might be accomplishing some things for Lokesh already, but Rajesh is yet to develop the political acumen of KVP which controlled and guided a hot headed YSR in Hyderabad and Delhi,” said Prof D.A.R Subrahmanyam, chairman of Guntur based Navyandhra Intellectual Forum.
A senior leader of Jana Sena Party (JSP), which shares power with Chandrababu Naidu’s party, said that till Kilaru’s sway is limited to the TDP, “it is their internal affair.”
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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