Vizag in the grip of 'Festival of Yellow'

The entire Vizag city was in grip of 'Festival of Yellow' with the erecting of yellow banners, flags, flexies and welcome arches at all important roads and junctions all along the route from where the Telugu Desam Party Supremo N Chandrababu Naidu will arrive at the venue on the premises of Andhra University Engineering College Grounds to address a public meeting.

Big welcome arches were fixed at the AU Engineering College entrance, Maddilapalem and the entrance of the public meeting venue.A Important junctions in the city including Jagadamba, Maddilapalem, NAD Kotha road, Air Port and the entire National Highway -5 wore a 'Yellow look', considered to be a good omen. All roads leading to the public meeting venue was decorated with party flags, welcome banners and flexies on either side.

Among others, party senior leaders Tummala Nageswara Rao, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, Garikapati Mohana Rao, Kabhampati Rammohana Rao, Nannapaneni Rajakumari, party urban district president Vasupalli Ganesh Kumar, Bharanikana Rama Rao and former minister M Manikumari supervising the arrangements at the venue.

The mega dais is being built with 100x50 ft to help accommodate as many as 250 VIPs and barricades were also erected under the supervision of Garimella Nani of Vijayawada. Huge lighting, latest public address systems, water facility and parking lots were arranged and the city police have already issued a statement diverting vehicular traffic passing through Maddilapalem from Saturday noon to late night. Mr Naidu will enter the city limits on Friday night and take a night halt in a distance of half a KM from the 'Vastunna-Meekosam Pylon' .

He will unveil the Pylon at 3 pm on Saturday and later participate in the mega bike rally in which more than 10,000 vehicles would participate and reach the meeting venue. The party leaders appealed to the public to co-operate during the bike rally though they made all arrangements without affecting the traffic flow.

Big question mark over participation of Jr NTR, Harikrishna

• Lokesh to make maiden public speech

Visakhapatnam: Telugu Desam Party leaders and workers are anxious to hear Junior NTR and Harikrishna speak at the biggest ever public meeting slated to be held at Andhra University Engineering College grounds on Sunday to mark the end of party president's 2900-km long 'Vastunna Meekosam' walkathon.

``We want Jr NTR and Harikrishna to roar at the meeting which has to echo all over the State,'' said K Prithvi Raj and B Loknath, both ardent fans of the actor and who came all the way from Nagayyalanka in Krishna district to participate in the rally and meeting. They said only NTR could pep up the party cadre in the run up to the next elections. But the senior party leaders are apprehensive about NTR's participation since the party president's lone son Nara Lokesh will be making his first ever public appearance at the historic meeting.

``We cannot say about junior NTR but Lokesh will be participating in the last leg of the padayatra and address the meeting,'' said State vice president of the party Kona Tata Rao refusing to divulge anything about the participation of the NTR family members. Party sources said the presence of junior NTR will outshadow not only Lokesh but also Chandrababu Naidu. A big hype is being created about the public meeting with the presence of over half a million people with entire city painted yellow with huge cut-outs of leaders and hence the party president might not need any other glamourous personality other than himself to grace the occasion, they said.

Around 250 leaders would be present on the special stage which was designed by experts drawn from Bangalore. Around two lakh people could be accommodated in the ground while another three lakhs would make their presence all over the city clad in yellow. About 5,000 party workers from each constituency were asked to be present at the meeting, the local leaders said.

Meanwhile on Friday, Babu, Bhuvaneshwari and Lokesh served lunch to the party workers at the camp site in Gollalapalem where he rested for the day. Babu cancelled the constituency-level meeting in the day and exchanged niceties with the party workers over the lunch. He resumed his padayatra in the evening.