Naidu gets rousing reception in Visakhapatnam, offers special prayers at Simhachalam temple

TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu received warm welcome in Visakhapatnam to offer prayers at Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Devasthanam. He thanked supporters for standing by him during tough times & sought blessings of Lord for well-being of AP. He refused to talk politics & said Panchagramalu issue yet to be resolved.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president and former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu got a rousing reception on his arrival in Visakhapatnam on Sunday, to offer prayers at Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Devasthanam at Simhachalam. He was accompanied by his wife Nara Bhuvaneswari.

A number of TDP supporters and members of Mahila wing thronged the airport to receive Mr. Naidu. TDP State president K. Atchannaidu, former MLAs Palla Srinivasa Rao and Bandaru Satyanarayana Murthy, Visakhapatnam East MLA Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu and others received him and accompanied him to the temple.

Mr. Naidu and his wife were received by the devasthanam officials and TDP leader and Hereditary Trustee P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju. Mr. Naidu hugged the sacred ‘Kappasthambam’ , offered ‘pattu vasthrams’ to the main deity and performed special prayers.

Later speaking to the media, he said that he sought blessings of Lord Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy for the well-being of people of the State. “It is my duty to protect my State, so I sought the blessings of the deity to give me the strength to fight evil forces,” he said.

He said that he was offering prayers to the Gods at various places to protect ‘dharma’ which is under threat in Andhra Pradesh. Mr. Naidu said that even the family members of Mr, Ashok Gajapathi Raju, who had donated lands to the temple, were subjected to various kinds of trouble.

Asked about his response on Telangana elections results, he said that this was not the right place to talk politics.

When asked about the ‘Panchagramalu issue’, Mr. Naidu said that though clear directions were issued to resolve the matter during the TDP regime the issue is not solved.