- 6 weeks ago
Speaking at the India Today South Conclave, Andhra Pradesh Minister for HRD, IT and Electronics Nara Lokesh addressed key national and state issues, including political controversies surrounding the Election Commission and Special Summary Revision of electoral rolls. He defended the institutional integrity of the poll panel, remarking that it is easy to blame the Election Commission after losing an election. Highlighting TDP's role as an ally of the NDA, he affirmed that the party raises concerns and gives constructive input internally. Lokesh outlined significant educational reforms in Andhra Pradesh, including transparent recruitment of sixteen thousand teachers and student tracking to prevent dropouts. Emphasising future readiness, he declared, "the education system has to be realigned with the requirements of Bharat of tomorrow, not of yesterday," underscoring efforts to introduce artificial intelligence and quantum computing to prepare youth for modern industry challenges.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00I want to start by two hot-button topics which are resonating nationally, not just in Andhra Pradesh, but across
00:06the country.
00:06The first is the Election Commission.
00:10Where does the TDP stand?
00:12Because immediately after, when this entire Election Commission issue blew up,
00:18your leader of the Lok Sabha, who's probably here, said that the EC should clarify in the interest of transparency.
00:27Now it seems all is well.
00:29The TDP seems to have suddenly no problem with the EC.
00:33Where does the TDP stand?
00:35Do you believe that Gyanesh Kumarji should step down as the rest of the opposition is demanding?
00:42Thank you very much for having me in the session.
00:45And I love the first question.
00:47It is a hot topic.
00:49I believe that there's responsibility on the people also who are questioning the system.
00:55Now you see a lot of political parties also questioning regarding SAR.
01:00As a political party, Telgudy SM party has always sought clarifications on various subjects related to SAR.
01:08In opposition, even when we are in power.
01:12In fact, as recently, as about a year back, we sought a lot of clarification because we also went through
01:16our own SAR process.
01:18So is the system perfect?
01:20Absolutely not.
01:20There are areas of improvement like any system is.
01:23But is the intent there to make it better, to resolve the issues that need resolution, that is in place.
01:30So as a party, we've seen the letter that the election commissioners put out.
01:35We believe that is in order.
01:37And as we go forward, we will give our input on how to make it even better.
01:40The fact that over 13 crore voters, as of today, don't find themselves on the draft roll.
01:48Some of them may have passed away.
01:49Some of them may have shifted residence.
01:51But isn't that a whopping number?
01:53Should that not concern you that this exercise perhaps has been carried in a manner, whatever the intentions,
01:59in a manner that leaves a lot of scope for doubt and suspicion on the seemingly neutral umpire?
02:04If you look at it, the maximum number of votes were also deleted in Gujarat.
02:09In Andhra Pradesh, we went through our SAR process.
02:1292% of the votes got mapped.
02:15We did that.
02:16We were very active.
02:17As a political party, we were very active in the field.
02:20We have our booth in charges.
02:21It's an activity that the election commission along with the BLOs, BLAs of all political parties, they work together.
02:29And they work on mapping it.
02:31See, if you look at it in this SAR, our votes were in Hyderabad in 2002 because we were a
02:36combined state.
02:37So we had to submit documents.
02:39We had to submit documents.
02:40We did it.
02:41We were able to map ourselves.
02:42Like that, everyone can.
02:43And in Andhra Pradesh, we have done it.
02:44So you don't agree with the Rahul Gandhi view that the EC is working at the behest of the BJP
02:49or the NDA leadership that the Gyanesh Kumarji has been put there as a hatchet man to ensure that every
02:58election is won by the BJP, according to him, irrespective of anti-incumbency?
03:03Well, he won elections in Kerala, Karnataka, Talangana.
03:10So there, there's no role of SIR.
03:12If you lose, there's a role of SIR.
03:15I mean, where is your organization to even look at votes?
03:18Where votes are getting added?
03:20Have you done any homework?
03:21Where is your boot level organization?
03:23In absent of it, you're blaming the election commission.
03:26You know, let me ask you a slightly contentious question.
03:29It seems where you stand in politics depends on where you sit.
03:32Your father, Chandrababu Naiduji, was in alliance with the Congress in 2019.
03:36There is a tweet of him which still stands where he said that the EC is destroying democracy along with
03:42the BJP.
03:42Now, today, you are coming out in defense of the EC and the BJP.
03:46It seems in Indian politics, where you stand depends on where you sit.
03:49In our case, we believe based on facts and data.
03:54Our belief system is quite clear.
03:55And as a political...
03:56Facts could not have been different location 2019 to 2026.
04:00No, but we continue to fight.
04:01Who said we don't?
04:02We have expressed our opinions.
04:04We have gone to election commission multiple times.
04:06We have stated that, you know, SAR should be done in a certain way.
04:09We have our opinion at the table.
04:10We continue to voice our opinion.
04:13Who said that our opinion has disappeared on it?
04:16So, I want to understand, what is the TDP's role?
04:18Are you a constructive critic within the government?
04:22Do you all have a voice within the government?
04:24Because one perception is this government is a one-and-a-half-man show.
04:27That the allies no longer really matter.
04:29Do you all matter?
04:30I found it interesting.
04:31For example, before the monsoon session, many of your TDP MPs reportedly objected to the
04:36Viksit Bharat Education Bill, for example, which was then pulled back.
04:39On work board, you all gave various suggestions.
04:41What is the TDP stand within the NDA?
04:44Are you completely committed to the BJP and Narendra Modi ji?
04:47Or are you all constructive critics within this framework?
04:52We are an ally of NDA.
04:54We have an opinion on a subject.
04:56We will voice it within the four walls.
04:58And similarly, the Wakaf bill went to JPC.
05:01We gave our input.
05:03In various other matters, we have given our input.
05:05And we will continue to do it.
05:06We will continue to play a role in the NDA government.
05:10We will continue to give our feedback to the government.
05:12So, you are very clear that when the opposition calls for the impeachment of the CEC,
05:17when the opposition starts, says that they are going to have a jail-bharo-andolan or street-wide
05:21protest, TDP will stand firmly by the Narendra Modi government on this issue.
05:28You don't see that the BJP has tried to game the system or fix the system to ensure that
05:33they win elections.
05:34If they gamed and fixed the system, then why did they lose Kerala?
05:38Because the BJP is not a major force in Kerala.
05:40Telangana?
05:41The BJP, you could argue that Congress and the BRS were the top two forces.
05:45Can you say that?
05:46If you look at it in the parliament elections, majority of the MP seats were won by BJP.
05:52Same thing in Kerala.
05:54So, see, it's political convenience to blame.
05:57But then, do you have an institutional framework in the field to ensure that the voting is mapped?
06:02It's not there for Congress.
06:03It's easy to blame when you lose on election commission.
06:06When you win, you can say that there are various other reasons that you won an election on.
06:09So, you're saying parties with superior organization can do the mapping, can ensure that their voters
06:14are on the electoral rolls?
06:16I'm saying it's important that every eligible voter is on the electoral rolls.
06:20And as a political party, we've understood the power of the voter list.
06:24From day one, we've been very focused.
06:26Even in opposition, we raised our opinion with election commission regarding the voter list.
06:30And we've worked through the entire process.
06:33Let's turn to Gen Z.
06:35In many ways, I don't know where you qualify.
06:38You're 43.
06:39You're a millennial.
06:41But I want to understand, where do you stand on this Gen Z and the angst of a younger India,
06:48which seems, after particularly the rise of the Kokhruj Janata Party, to be railing against the system?
06:54They've become anti-establishment.
06:56Do you believe Gen Z has a genuine reason to be angry?
07:01Fundamentally, I believe that we are seeing a new movement in India where it has nothing to do with caste,
07:07religion or region.
07:08It has to do with the demographic, where there is a set of youngsters who believe that the system has
07:13to be transformed.
07:15I believe that are there areas to improve?
07:18Absolutely.
07:19Even in our own government, I believe that there are multiple areas that we can do better.
07:23So, what really excites me is that now we've identified the problems.
07:26We understand where we stand.
07:28As youngsters, all of us can come together and find solutions to those problems.
07:33And that's what excites me today.
07:35Do you believe that we need a complete revamping of the education system of this country, including the way exams
07:41are conducted?
07:42Absolutely.
07:43Absolutely.
07:44I agree with you on that.
07:45I believe that the education system has to be realigned with the requirements of Bharat of tomorrow, not of yesterday.
07:54And as education minister, I'm taking it head on.
07:58I've done teacher recruitment, 16,000 teachers have been recruited in the most transparent fare process.
08:03Today, I have a data set where every child is tracked.
08:06So, we ensure that there are no dropouts.
08:08Because dropout is where, potentially, they take diversions from society.
08:13They can become drug peddlers, so on and so forth.
08:15So, we're very conscious of it.
08:17So, we have already done a lot of reforms in the education system.
08:21As far as examination conduct is considered, do we need reforms?
08:24Absolutely.
08:25No second thoughts about it.
08:26There are areas that we can do better.
08:28As you rightly said, the IIT exams are a great example where it's done very well.
08:33DSE exams is a completely computer-based testing.
08:35It's not manual.
08:36We have shown the way in teacher recruitment to other states.
08:40So, I think there's a lot that we can learn and improve.
08:43How important is it to align this Gen Z to the changing ecosystem where AI is going to become central
08:50to a lot of the professional challenges of the future?
08:53How do you train, for example, young children in a rural school in Andhra Pradesh or across the state to
08:59equip them to be AI-friendly students who can compete with the best in India and the world?
09:06Because Andhra's great quality has been that you all were able to embrace the IT revolution.
09:11How do you now embrace the AI revolution?
09:13So, the Honourable Chief Minister has taken a stand that every family should either be a user of AI or
09:20should have a use case for AI.
09:21This has been the stand.
09:22And we're working through the education department, our own department, of creating mechanisms where you can expose students to the
09:30next frontier technologies, ranging from AI all the way to quantum.
09:33So, we're doing micro-courses.
09:35We are now building out our computer labs.
09:38You know, if you've seen, we have modernized quite a few schools in our ecosystem, where labs have come in,
09:43exposure is now started.
09:45But I believe this is just the beginning.
09:46Education system cannot be reformed overnight.
09:49It requires a decade, at least a decade of investment.
09:52And as a state, we are now doing that investments.
09:55Just for a moment, to come back to the Gen Z point, it seems that the government has said that
09:59MPs, ministers should all go to universities across the country, interact with students.
10:04Rather than interact, should they start listening to students?
10:08You know, putting up Instagram reels.
10:10I don't know whether you're also an Instagrammer.
10:13You put up reels.
10:14But do you believe that's the way to connect with the young as the government wants, but actually to listen
10:18to what the young really want?
10:21I believe every government should listen, irrespective to the age group.
10:25Is this government listening?
10:26Is the Modi government listening to the voices of the young?
10:29In Andhra Pradesh, we're doing it.
10:31Our MPs are now going to colleges, I'm also going to colleges, with no agenda, we're sitting there, having an
10:37open conversation.
10:38That is where great ideas actually end up coming.
10:40You know, there's specific advice given on quantum.
10:43When I went to Narsarop at a constituency, and I went to the university there, the kids asked me that
10:48they want courses in quantum computing.
10:51And that's where I worked backwards with IBM, to bring about capsule courses for the kids there.
10:55And they get credit for it.
10:56But so once you, you know, create this practice of just sharing them out, there are a lot of ideas
11:01that we can put together.
11:02So is that an advice that you're in a way giving?
11:04Because you said in Andhra Pradesh we're doing it.
11:06Is that the advice you'd give to the center?
11:08Rather than rely on one-minute reels, Instagram reels, the way actually is to go on the ground, listen to
11:13the students, and then build the infrastructure to make them AI-friendly for the future?
11:18I believe we're already doing it.
11:20Can we do it?
11:21Meaning, is the central government doing it or is the Andhra government doing it?
11:24In central government, we have one cabinet minister, we have one minister of state.
11:28Their feedback to me is that they're also going to the field.
11:30They are interacting with the youngsters across board.
11:33And I believe that this is just the beginning.
11:36Greater discussion should happen.
11:38Good to have you taking on all our questions and we wish you and your state very well.
11:45Thank you very much, Nara Lokesh, for joining us here on this fireside chat at the India Today South Conclave.