Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Hyderabad on February 5, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has nominated state Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav to receive and see-off the PM during his visit. However, it is unclear if the Chief Minister himself will also be present or not. The decision comes days after KCR slammed the Narendra Modi-led Union government at a press meet following the presentation of the Union Budget for 2022-23 on February 1. Amidst strongly worded criticism of the Budget, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief called for uprooting the BJP from the Union government and "throwing it into the Bay of Bengal". He also slammed the BJP for what he called damaging the country by dividing people in the name of religion.
At the press meet, KCR called for a qualitative change in the country and declared that he would contribute in whatever manner possible to bring about the change. He said he would visit Mumbai soon to meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to discuss his plans. He also hinted at meetings with several other leaders including his West Bengal and Odisha counterparts, Mamata Banerjee and Naveen Patnaik, respectively. And now, he has nominated a minister to receive PM Modi during his visit instead of doing so himself.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Hyderabad on February 5 to unveil the 'Statue of Equality' commemorating the 11th century Bhakti saint Ramanujacharya at the premises of Chinna Jeeyar Trust at Muchintal. The statue has been conceptualised by Chinna Jeeyar, a prominent spiritual guru.
During the visit, PM Modi will also kickstart the 50th anniversary celebrations of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), and will inaugurate ICRISAT's climate change research facility on plant protection and ICRISAT's rapid generation advancement facility.
Telangana Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and DGP M Mahendar Reddy on Friday, February 4, took stock of the arrangements for the Prime Minister's visit, official sources said. The chief secretary had chaired a meeting with officials of various departments on Thursday, February 3, and gave relevant directives on the arrangements to be made for the Prime Minister's visit.
At least 7,000 police personnel, including Central teams, will be deployed as part of security arrangements for the Prime Minister's half-day visit to attend the two programmes, both on the outskirts of the city.
With PTI and IANS inputs
Note: An earlier version of the copy said that KCR would not be welcoming the Prime Minister. However, the Chief Minister's Office is yet to provide clarity on the issue. The error is regretted