Ban or no ban, the State-sponsored Sankranti Sambaralu did not pass off without the traditional cockfights in the city on Tuesday.
The adage old habits die hard seemingly came true among a section of TDP leaders who gave a touch of cockfights to the official festival even as the matter was pending disposal by the High Court. Local MP Maganti Venkateswara Rao, Deputy Mayor Chode Venkataratnam and some corporators indulged in mock cockfights.
Mr. Venkateswara Rao said the show intended to send the message across the State that cockfights during the festival were part of the tradition and native culture of people in the Godavari region. The fights were permissible as long as they did no harm to the roosters, he maintained.
However, West Godavari Collector Bhaskar Katamneni, Minister for Women and Child Welfare Peethala Sujatha and the other official top-brass kept themselves at a safe distance from the cock-fights. They chose to indulge in other sports events such as kabadi.
