In a reminder of Telangana agitation days, Lal Bahadur stadium which hosted Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s Iftar party remained damp and difficult to walk about. The stadium which YSR Congress party had used in somewhat similar conditions on a rainy day for a massive Samaikhya Andhra meeting in 2013 remained unusable for any sporting activity for more than a year afterwards.
Even on Sunday evening when the stadium witnessed a huge gathering which almost filled half of its maximum capacity of 35,000, the rains had already turned the black soil laid out on the ground to a slushy mess. Except for the seating areas where tarpaulin sheets were spread out on the ground, all the walk ways had puddled up. With guests in Sherwanies and Jodhpuri shoes walking over the muddy grass, the meeting remained damp in spirits till food was served after evening prayers. The menu included two kinds of Biryanis and traditional Hyderabadi dishes including Haleem and Double ka Meetha.
The YSR Congress had held the meeting on court orders which left the ground badly battered as thousands of people pounded on the slush. Their footsteps dug up the soil.