Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Hyderabad on February 5 afternoon to participate in the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) at Patancheru on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
Mr. Modi landed at the Shamshabad Airport at 2.15 p.m. in a special aircraft and from there he reached ICRISAT on a helicopter. He was received at the airport by the Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan, Minister for Animal Husbandry Talasani Srinivas Yadav, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar and Director General of Police, M. Mahender Reddy among others.
Telangana Chief Minister, K. Chandrashekhar Rao was not present at the airport to receive the Prime Minister as per protocol. Official sources revealed that KCR is suffering from a mild fever and he nominated Mr. Srinivas Yadav to receive the Prime Minister.
An official statement from the Chief Minister’s Office on February 4 said that Mr. Srinivas Yadav has been nominated as the Minister-in-waiting to receive and see off the Prime Minister on his arrival and departure.
KCR’s absence is sure to raise some political heat with the BJP leaders questioning his absence. The Chief Minister recently went ballistic against the Prime Minister after the Budget presentation and used harsh words such as throwing the BJP into the Bay of Bengal to save the country. He also went personal against Mr. Modi while recalling his requests on the State issues and said speaking to Mr. Modi was similar to speaking to a wall.
Meanwhile, Mr. Modi reached the ICRISAT where Agriculture Minister Narendra Tomar and Union Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy too were present. Mr. Modi will return to the airport after 4 p.m. and will travel by road to the Ashram of Chinna Jeeeyar Swamy at Muchintal. He will dedicate to the nation the 216ft statue of Sri Ramanujacharya named as Statue of Equality.
