President Murmu to worship Lord Venkateswara on Dec 5

Tirupati: Arrangements are in full swing for the visit of President of India Droupadi Murmu to Tirupati district on December 4 and 5. District officials have been making elaborate arrangements to make the maiden visit of the first citizen of India to the pilgrim city after assuming office. District collector K Venkataramana Reddy, SP P Parameswar Reddy and other officials have been monitoring the arrangements.

The collector held a meeting with the SP, joint collector D K Balaji and others on Friday and made several suggestions. The President will reach Tirupati airport at 8.40 pm on December 4 from Visakhapatnam and will leave for Tirumala for overnight stay. On December 5 morning, she will visit Sri Varaha Swamy temple and Lord Venkateswara temple and worship the presiding deities.

The President will reach the Saptha Gau Pradakshina Shala at Alipiri after which she will participate in an interaction programme at Sri Padmavati Mahila Visvavidyalayam (SPMVV) at 11 am. At SPMVV campus, she will visit the stalls before interacting with the students and faculty. The President will leave from Tirupati airport at 12 noon for New Delhi.

The district collector said that Deputy Chief Minister K Narayana Swamy will receive the first citizen of India on behalf of the state government. Only those names approved by the President's secretariat will be allowed to welcome her at the airport.

Along with SP and other officials, he held advanced security liaison ahead of the President's visit on Friday all along the route where the convoy will move. TTD CV&SO Narasimha Kishore, additional SPs Kulasekhar, Muniramaiah and Vimala Kumari, airport director Raj Kishore, RDOs V Kanaka Narasa Reddy and Rama Rao, airport chief security officer Rajasekhar Reddy, deputy commandant Shukla, DM&HO Dr U Sreehari, SVIMS superintendent Dr Ram and other officials were present.