Hyderabad, July 07: AICC general secretary and in-charge of party’s AP affairs Ghulam Nabi Azad has decided to skip his tour of Vijayawada scheduled on Friday in view of the political turmoil in the state. As per the original schedule finalised last month, Azad was to unveil the statue of late chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy near the police control room in the city during his day-long tour.
Local MP Lagadapati Rajagopal had made elaborate arrangements for Azad’s visit, which was primarily aimed at inviting old comrades into the party fold and stopping key leaders from joining Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress. Azad had promised to take part in various programmes as they coincided with the birth anniversary celebrations of YSR. However, Azad had cancelled his programme keeping in view the volatile situation in the state.
“Azad is not coming to the city as he is preoccupied with the Telangana issue. PCC chief Botsa Satyanarayana would attend the meetings as chief guest in place of Azad,” confirmed city Congress chief Paila Somi Naidu, a key aide of Rajagopal.
Since Azad reportedly pulled up the Telangana Congress leaders for taking a rebellious route on the separate statehood issue, the intelligence wing is learnt to have cautioned him against making the trip to the state at this juncture.
–Agencies