Andhra Pradesh leaders' wives hit the streets to woo women voters

Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s bid to rule the state again is getting much-needed oxygen from his wife Nara Bhuvaneshwari.

Only Chandrababu will be able to do justice to the women of Andhra Pradesh, Bhuvaneshwari tells election rallies as the southern state readies to pick a new Assembly and also elect MPs.

Bhuvaneshwari is not alone. Nara Brahmani, her daughter-in-law, has also entered campaigning, for her husband Nara Lokesh's victory in Mangalagiri.

The two women explain to the crowds gathered at election rallies, particularly women, what Nara Chandrababu and Nara Lokesh have done for the people, and what they will accomplish if they're back in power. 

"Women's empowerment is the goal of Nara Chandrababu and Nara Lokesh. No one can match Chandrababu in working for the people,” said Nara Brahmani at a rally on Saturday (April 20).

NTR's legacy

Speaking to the workers of Sandhya Spices Company, Brahmani said that if women were to be empowered, and if labourers’ lives were to change, then Chandrababu must win.

She recalled that it was Telugu Desam Party founder NT Rama Rao (NTR, father-in-law of Chandrababu Naidu) who said that women would also have equal rights in property. Similarly, Chandrababu’s goal is women's empowerment and the state’s development, his wife and daughter-in-law said.

Pro-women schemes

They referred to the various pro-women programmes initiated by the governments of NTR and Chandrababu Naidu. It was Chandrababu who introduced engineering colleges and professional courses in undivided Andhra Pradesh to give opportunities to the youth, they said.

The women said Nara Lokesh implemented the Stree Shakti Scheme to increase the income of women and provide financial support to them using his own funds.

Brahmani said: “If you all bless them in the elections, they will ensure better welfare”.

Nara Lokesh will contest the 2024 elections in Mangalagiri on behalf of the TDP. YSRCP candidate Murugadu Lavanya is pitted against him. In 2019, Lokesh was defeated by YSRCP’s Alla Ramakrishna Reddy by 5,337 votes.

CM’s wife

Soon, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy's wife Bharti will also enter the election campaign. Jagan will file his nomination in Pulivendulu on April 25. He will then get busy with the election campaign across the state.

Bharti is expected to take over the campaign responsibilities in Kadapa and organise rallies and meetings to explain the development and welfare schemes introduced by her husband for the state.