Lokesh’s Sarcastic Reply to Chennai’s Parandur Airport Drama

The Parandur airport drama in Tamil Nadu has now dropped  over into Andhra Pradesh  and Nara Lokesh has made sure to add his own dose of sarcasm to it.

CM Vijay announced in the morning at assembly that the proposed greenfield airport at Parandur would be dropped. The project had faced strong opposition from farmers and residents over concerns about using the agricultural land, wetlands and displacement. The Tamil Nadu government will now look for an alternative location while also planning to expand Chennai’s existing airport with a fifth terminal, despite having very little land at the current airport area. 

But what really caught social media attention was the reaction that followed.

With Chennai suddenly looking for an alternative to Parandur, Some social media users across Twitter started joking about how AP could come to the rescue, particularly with Sri City being located close to the Tamil Nadu border, which could be used as Chennai’s second airport.

One post even joked about how CBN could become the “luckiest guy” if he secured another term and built a new airport at Sri City for Chennai passengers.

Minister Lokesh was clearly not going to let that one pass.

Reposting the post, he responded:

“Between Amaravati, Polavaram and 3 economic regions, we have enough development to do in AP already! This is not on our ‘to-do’ list. Respectfully, we will pass on this.”

The reply is a classic political dig  without directly attacking anyone. The message is simple: Andhra Pradesh already has its own massive development agenda, from Amaravati and Polavaram to the state’s three economic regions and is hardly waiting for Chennai to outsource its airport problem. 

And there is another interesting point behind the joke. Andhra Pradesh is already expanding its own aviation network. The proposed greenfield airport at Dagadarthi in Nellore district is moving through the development process, with the state currently pursuing a PPP route for the project. The airport is expected to serve the growing industrial ecosystem around Nellore and Sri City. 

So, while social media was busy imagining “Chennai Airport – Sri City”, Lokesh’s response was essentially: AP has enough projects of its own right now and is already in the process of encashing them.