CM leads six-member delegation to witness Amaravati stone-laying
Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao
Hyderabad: With his consent to attend the foundation stone-laying ceremony of AP’s new capital city Amaravati after a bitter vote-for-note scandal, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is expected to become one of the highlights of the event on Wednesday.
Mr Rao will lead a six-member delegation comprising deputy chief minister Mohd Mahamood Ali, finance minister Etala Rajender and energy minister A Jagdish Reddy besides three officials including intelligence chief Shivdhar Reddy.
According to TRS parliamentary party leader and TRS secretary-general K. Keshava Rao, the Chief Minister’s visit to Amaravati will impr-ove the ties between the two Telugu states. “It will clear the air of suspicion. Some people tried to create an impression that we are opposed to the AP government and people, which is not true. We want good neighbourly relationship with AP,” he said.
The Telangana CM is being accorded a VVIP reception by AP Chief Minister N Chandra-babu Naidu with welcome arches and flex boards at many places en route to the venue. Mr Rao is setting foot on the Andhra soil for the first time after the launch of the separate Telangana movement in 2001, which created deep animosity betwe-en leaders. However, he had visited Rayalaseema for the darshan of Lord Venkatesh-wara at Tirumala during the Telangana movement.
After an overnight stay at Suryapet in Nalgonda district on Tuesday night, sources said the Telangana Chief Minister will leave for Amaravati at 10.15 am by helicopter on Thursday. After attending the function in Amaravati, he will return to Suryapet at 2.30 pm the same day.
KCR, AP Governor will stay mum:
Despite a VVIP reception accorded to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the Telangana leader and also a few other high profile dignitaries will remain mute spectators, without making any speech at the event.
As per the official schedule of the event released by AP information minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy on Wednesday, the dignitaries who will be addressing the gathering include Prime Mi-nister Narendra Modi, AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, Union minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, and ministers from Singapore and Japan.
Other dignitaries such as Andhra Prad-esh Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan and Tamil Nadu Governor and former AP chief minister K. Rosaiah, Punjab Chief Mini-ster Prakash Singh Badal, two Supreme Court judges and the Union minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju would not speak at the event.
A hot debate, meanwhile, is on over the logic behind AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s invitation to Mr Rao and the latter’s acceptance.
According to insiders in both the TRS and the TD, GHMC election is the key reason for the surprising move.
With this invitation, Mr Naidu plans to send a message that he is not against Telangana. By accepting the invitation to attend Amaravati’s foundation stone-laying ceremony, Mr Rao wants to shed his image as some one who is against those from Seemandhra as they make up 30 lakh voters in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation polls.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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