With ten days to go for the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to lay the foundation stone for the Rs.6,000-crore NTPC-BHEL project at Mannavaram near here, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister K. Rosaiah held a meeting with Ministers, MPs, legislators and Congress party functionaries from Chittoor, Kadapa and Nellore districts to discuss the logistics for the ‘historic' event.
Addressing a ‘preparatory meeting', Mr. Rosaiah urged party leaders to spare no effort to make the Prime Minister's visit a grand success. Mannavaram project is the biggest public sector unit to be sanctioned to Andhra Pradesh in the last 30 years after the Visakhapatnam steel plant, the meeting noted.
This was the reason why he was also participating in the preparatory meeting like an ‘ordinary' party worker to discuss threadbare the arrangements for Dr. Singh's programme who will also lay the foundation stone for the Tirupati International Airport also, he said.
Mr. Rosaiah said that since the multi-crore PSU was sure to be a ‘diamond' in the crown of the State and would transform the entire façade of the area around, leaders of all parties and their rank and file, cutting across political affiliations, must go all out to make the programme a success.
Chiranjeevi's offer
He pointed out that even Praja Rajyam president K. Chiranjeevi, Tirupati MLA, had promised to do his bit for the success of the Prime Minister's visit. The meet came in handy for Mr. Rosaiah to make the Congress leaders of the three districts fall in line and consolidate his position.
Important among those who attended the meeting were K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao, Adviser to the Government, Dharmana Prasada Rao, Kanna Lakshminarayana, Galla Aruna Kumari, P. Ramachandra Reddy — all Ministers and Tirupati MP, Chintha Mohan.
