Naidu in Tirumala to offer prayers at hill temple

Tirupati: Telugu Desam national president Nara Chandrababu Naidu arrived in Tirumala on Thursday evening for a visit to the world-renowned hill temple of Lord Venkateswara on Friday.

Thousands of TD workers and supporters gave Naidu a grand welcome at the Renigunta airport. He proceeded to the Gayatri Nilayam in Tirumala by road. Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams’ reception department officials accorded a warm welcome to the former chief minister.

Naidu is slated to offer prayers at the Bhu-Varaha Swamy temple early in the morning, before seeking the blessings of Lord Venkateswara between 7 am and 8 am. After these, Naidu will return to Gayatri Nilayam before leaving for Vijayawada from Renigunta Airport at 11:30 am.

TD supporters showered flowers on Naidu's convoy en route to the airport as it passed through Tirupati. The party workers, led by former MLA Sugunamma, Narasimha Yadav, and Pulivarthi Nani accorded their leader a warm reception at the TD office beside Kapilateertham. They greeted him with a huge garland, lifted to level by using a crane.

However, the large gatherings of TD supporters led to traffic congestion and chaos in parts of Tirupati city. The movement of Naidu's convoy route - covering Renigunta Junction, Tiruchanoor Junction, Srinivasa Setu flyover, Tirumala bypass road, and Alipiri - was significantly affected for hours, causing hardships to regular commuters.

With heavy police deployment on the route to ensure a smooth passage for Naidu, many passengers faced huge traffic blocks exceedingly over 30-45 minutes in some areas like the stretch from the Central bus station to Alipiri. Residents have expressed their displeasure over the disruption caused by VIP visits.