Hyderabad: AP minister Nara Lokesh hoped that his performance was good, and that he would not get “sacked’.
Mr Lokesh was replying to a query from a participant on where he sees himself in five years at an interactive session, ‘Shifting Goal posts’, organised by the FICCI Ladies Organisation on Saturday.
Speaking at the session, his wife Nara Brahmani, executive director of Heritage Group, stated that neither politics nor films were her priority. She said she wanted to continue her entrepreneurial role and focus on health and nutrition.
In reply to other questions, he said his father and AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu at 67 years of age and the energy of a 27-year old. “He keeps pushing the barrier high every time,” he said. “It is exciting to work with the CM and the ministers are on their toes to live up to Mr Naidu’s expectations,” he said.
He said Mr Naidu was his biggest critic. not the Opposition or any rival party.
“AP is a start-up state. Everything is a white paper. There is no legacy. We treat this as an opportunity. Every crisis is an opportunity. And, who better than Mr Naidu to handle this situation,” he said.
Three out of 10 mobile phones manufactured in India were coming out of AP and this would improve to five out of 10, he said.
Ms Brahmani said her in-laws had supported her in pursuing her higher education in Stanford, after getting married at the age of 19. She said there was no conflict of interest between her and Ms Nara Bhuvaneshwari, her mother-in-law.
“We complement each other. We devise strategies and business goals and there is no difference of opinion,” she said.
Mr Lokesh, in a lighter vein, said that he and Mr Naidu were able to spend money because his mother and wife were earning at Heritage.
Ficci FLO chairperson Kamini Saraf pointed out that it was a rare opportunity to talk to the “power couple” as they do not appear much together on business platforms.
