Prez Kovind arrives, Guv hosts dinner

HYDERABAD: THE dinner hosted by governor ESL Narasimhan in honour of President Ram Nath Kovind, who is in Hyderabad on a four-day southern sojourn, at the Raj Bhavan here on Sunday was an occasion for exchange of pleasantries between the chief ministers of the two Telugu states, K Chandrasekhar Rao and N Chandrababu Naidu.

Against the backdrop of criticism made against Telangana Chief Minister Rao for not inviting his Andhra Pradesh counterpart to the recently-held World Telugu Conference, both the chief ministers were seen enthusiastically engaging themselves in a friendly chat. Both of them were seen cracking jokes, besides having an animated conversation, with each other, probably on issues relating to the two Telugu states, in the presence of the President as well as the governor.

The programme, organised on the eve of Christmas, also witnessed some happy moments like cheerful talk between  Rao and Jana Sena founder Pawan Kalyan as well as confabulations between Pawan and Naidu. Congress Rajya Sabha member K Chiranjeevi, who is the elder brother of the Jana Sena chief, was seen holding talks with both CMs as well as Pawan.

Prominent political figures in the two Telugu-speaking including TPCC chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy, former Tamil Nadu governor K Rosaiah and Telangana BJP president K Laxman were among those who partook of the dinner.

Earlier in the day, President arrived here on southern sojourn. After landing at Hakimpet Air Force Station, he reached Rashtrapati Nilayam at Bollarum in Secunderabad. This is the first southern sojourn of Kovind after assuming the highest office.