Rousing welcome for Naidu - Times of India

HYDERABAD: AP chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu was accorded a rousing reception on his maiden visit to the newly-declared capital city of Andhra Pradesh on Friday. Thousands of people, particularly students, lined up along the national highway to welcome Naidu and gathered at all road junctions right from the Gannavaram airport to Kanakadurga Varadhi, carrying balloons and waving their hands to express thanks for choosing Vijayawada as capital.

Naidu arrived at the airport at 10.30 am and proceeded to Guntur by road. People jostled at several points to greet the CM en route to Guntur. On seeing a large number of people, Naidu chose to travel standing on the car's footboard. His gesture was welcomed with slogans like "Navyandhra saradhi zindabad", "CM zindabad" and "Chandrababu zindabad". Several students also carried placards reading ?Thank you CM garu for making our city the capital of AP".

By the time the chief minister's convoy reached Benz Circle, students jostled to stop and garland him. Police had a tough job in managing the students. City police commissioner AB Venkateswara Rao himself jumped out of his vehicle and managed the crowd at one point.

Earlier, several leaders received the chief minister at the airport. While Ponnur legislator Dhulipalla Narendra Kumar arrived with the CM, ministers Ganta Srinivasa Rao and Ravela Kishore Babu, city mayor Sridhar, Krishna ZP chairperson Gadde Anuradha and Machilipatnam MP Konakalla Narayana accorded welcome to the CM.

Stay updated on the go with The Times of India’s mobile apps. Click here to download it for your device.