Vijayawada: BJP national president Amit Shah received a grand welcome from state party leaders at Gannavaram Airport. Mr Shah, along with AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, arrived at Vijayawada on Thursday morning. Union Ministers Venkaiah Naidu, Suresh Prabhu, Y. Satyanarayana Chowdary (Sujana Chowdary) and ministers of Andhra Pradesh state welcomed them.
Amit Shah and Chandrababu inaugurated 13 advanced life support ambulances worth around '4.3 crores from the MPLADS of Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu. Prabhu spoke to media personnel at the airport and said that he was happy to support the state in getting advanced healthcare ambulances with ventilator and other facilities. He said that he will focus on lifesaving trauma centres across state.
Later Amit Shah along with Venkaiah Naidu visited Swarna Bharath Trust at Atkuru and then to Narasapuram MP Gokaraju Ganga-raju’s guest house at Undavalli. The Chief Minister offered traditional Andhra dishes to the BJP national president during lunch diplomacy at his residence on the Krishna river Karakatta in Undavalli of Amaravati Capital Region.
Panasakaya (jackfruit) biryani, Guntur gongura biryani, Andhra chicken, Nellore fish curry, Ulavacharu biryani, muddha pappu and several other native Andhra dishes were offered during lunch diplomacy. Union minister for science and technology Y Sujana Chowdary came to the guest house of BJP MP G Ganga Raju and took Mr Amit Shah, Union minister Suresh Prabhu and other leaders to the house of Mr Chandrababu for lunch.
According to the sources Mr Chandrababu himself served the dishes to the leaders while explaining their specialty. Curry leaves chicken fry, masala prawns fry, gummadikaya iguru, guttivankaya curry, Andhra famous garay, Andhra-style mutton and other soups were offered to the guests. Mr Shah reportedly tasted all items and thanked Mr Chandrababu Naidu for hosting a tasty and memorable lunch.
Protests continue against BJP top leader’s arrival:
Protests continued in the city on Thursday opposing BJP national president Amit Shah’s tour. Various organisations and political parties opposed staged protests shouting slogan ‘Go back Amit Shah.’ Tension prevailed at Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) office, Andhra Ratna Bhavan, where police tried to stop women wing leaders of APCC as they tried to set fire to an effigy of Amit Shah. Congress leaders burnt effigy in office premises and staged protest there.
APCC Women’s Wing state president Sunkara Padmasri, addressing the gathering, demanded Amit Shah to fulfill the election promise on Special Category Status (SCS) to Andhra Pradesh. She said that BJP leaders who deceived Andhra Pradesh for their political benefits should be punished. Pratyeka Hodha Sadhana Samiti and Communist Party of India (CPI) wore black ribbons at Lenin Centre demanding Amit Shah to make a statement on SCS. CPI leader Donepudi Sankar said that BJP which betrayed Andhra people with false promises had started playing game. He said that people of AP were wise and BJP will pay for their false promises soon.
