An insipid welcome to Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy was witnessed at Gannvaram airport near here with only a handful of MLAs turning up.
Mr. Reddy arrived at the airport in a special flight on his way to Guntur to attend a host of programmes on Wednesday. The airport, which used to bustle with activity during the visit of VVIPs, lacked the usual bustle.
A large posse of policemen and a battery of media personnel were alone present outside the airport as there were hardly any Congress leaders and activists. There were no slogans or hullabaloo. Opposition leaders too were seen not to present memoranda on public issues.
Prominent among those who could not turn up include city Congress president Pyla Somi Naidu, former mayors, deputy mayors, Vijayawada MP Lagadapati Rajagopal, Vijayawada (East) MLA Yelamanchili Ravi, Tiruvur MLA D. Padmajyothi and others. The Congress leaders, however, attribute no specific reason for conspicuous absence of those leaders.
Confusion
The city police made elaborate arrangements from airport to Guntur to facilitate the Chief Minister's travel by road. However, some confusion prevailed over the Chief Minister's travel plans.
