Chandrababu Naidu seeks divine help on Special Category Status

Tirupati: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu who is at logger heads with the Centre on the Special Category Status (SCS) issue, prayed to Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala to give courage to Telugu people to continue the struggle to achieve the Special Status.

On the occasion of the third birthday of his grandson Devansh, Naidu along with his family members including his spouse Bhuvaneswari, son and Panchayat Raj Minister Nara Lokesh and Hindupur MLA Nandamuri Balakrishna offered prayers to Lord Venkateswara on Wednesday and spoke to the media after darshan.

“Facing troubles is not new. Potti Sriramulu sacrificed his life to get separate Andhra and later also the struggle continued for uniting Andhra and Telangana to form Andhra Pradesh. After 60 years of development, the State was bifurcated forcing us to come to Amaravati with bare hands and head load of debts causing pains to all of us,’’ Naidu said curtly adding that the Centre must and should implement all the promises made in the Reorganisation Act.

“I prayed to Lord Venkateswara who is my family deity whom I adore much to shower his benign blessings to the people of his land from where he is gracing multitude of the masses across the globe to get rid of their woes,” Naidu said.

The Chief Minister also recalled the `August crisis’ to remind how people saw the lawfully elected government which was undemocratically dismissed by the Centre to come back power and with the same spirit the fight will be continued for SCS, he said.

In the same breath, Naidu said the fight would be on the Japanese style saying that struggle and development will go on hand in hand.
The Chief Minister said he and his family members came to Tirumala to celebrate the third birthday of his grandson Devansh whose Anna Prasanam and Aksharabhyasam were also performed at the holy place.

Naidu preferred to enter the temple through Vaikuntam complex where Srivari Sevaks applied Thirunamam to Naidu and his family members. TTD Tirumala Joint Executive Officer K S Sreenivasa Raju who accompanied the Chief Minister, explained to him about the implementation of Thirunamadharana by devotees on the hill. Naidu appreciated TTD for the idea and services of Srivari Sevakulu.

On his arrival at Mahadwaram, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was accorded traditional welcome `Isthikaphal’ by Archakas amidst chanting of Veda mantras to the accompaniment of traditional music.

TTD Executive Officer Anil Kumar Singhal extended a warm welcome to the Chief Minister and conducted him into the shrine. After offering prayers, when the Chief Minister and his entourage were in the open area between Dhwajastambham and Padikavali area in the temple, he was explained by Singhal about the functioning of retractable roof set up for the benefit of pilgrims.

Later, the Vedic Pundits rendered Vedasirvachanam to the Chief Minister and other members of his family at Ranganayakula Mandapam followed by presentation of silk Vastram, Laddu and theertha prasadams by TTD EO to Naidu, Minister Nara Lokesh and MLA Balakrishna. Tirumala Chinna Jeeyar Swamy, DIG Prabhakar Rao, Collector PS Pradyumna and others were present.