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Colourful start to Visakha Utsav
The three-day Visakha Utsav kicked off to a colourful start at the picturesque Rama Krishna Beach here on Friday.
Visakhapatnam: The three-day Visakha Utsav kicked off to a colourful start at the picturesque Rama Krishna Beach here on Friday.
Departing from earlier practice of scattered venues, the festival this year is being held at single 1.9-km stretch of the beach road with a greater promise to popularise the city and the rich culture and tradition of the region.
The city gained popularity with the sequence of international events like International Fleet Review and two Partnership Summits apart from several other international and national events.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who had vowed to make Visakhapatnam the most popular tourist hub in the country, asked the officials to make the Utsav a grandeur event.
The day started with the inauguration of Digi Dhan expo to popularise online transactions and later a flower show at the MGM Park, both events drawing huge crowds.
The evening session began with a carnival from The Park Hotel junction to the main venue at the RK Beach, which was flagged off by Union Minister for Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu, the chief guest for the day.
School and college students, folk artistes from various parts of the state participated in the colorful carnival being held for the first time in Visakha Utsav.
Later, formally inaugurating the festival at the main venue, Venkaiah Naidu said as a student of Andhra University, he knew the various facets of the city and how it made rapid development while retaining the rich culture and tradition.
He dedicated much of his speech on how the Central government has been extending help to the state in every sphere to make it a best place to live.
Union Minister for Science and Technology Y Sujana Choudhary said the state government was making serious efforts to popularise Andhra culture all over the world by conducting events like Visakha Utsav.
Minister Ayyanna, 2 MLAs boycott
Minister for Panchayat Raj Ch Ayyanna Patrudu and two city MLAs Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu and Vasupalle Ganesh Kumar boycotted the inaugural session of the Visakha Utsav. They were neither present at the opening of Digi Dhan exhibition nor at the flower show and carnival.
The minister warned the officials and organisers that if local artistes were not given a chance to perform at the festival, he would boycott the festival.
The district administration made all efforts to convince him to attend the inaugural session at least and assured him that the local artistes were given a chance.
But the minister stood firm and left for Narsipatnam, his constituency, to attend locally-arranged programmes.
“The government sent VUDA and APTDC officials to request him to participate, but he bluntly refused,’’ said a close aide of the minister. The two MLAs were not available for comment.
