Elections cast shadow over official Ugadi celebrations in Telugu states

Hyderabad/Amaravati: Telangana Chief Minister, A Revanth Reddy and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday stayed away from official celebrations of Ugadi, the Telugu New Year, in view of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) for next month’s Lok Sabha elections.

This was the first Ugadi for Revanth Reddy as the chief minister but he had to skip the official celebrations held every year at Ravindra Bharathi in Hyderabad.

The low-key celebrations were attended by Minister for Tourism and Culture, Jupally Krishna Rao and Chief Secretary S Kumari.

The minister greeted Telangana people on the occasion of the Telugu New Year and wished it would bring happiness and prosperity to everyone.

He said 'Ugadi Pachadi' teaches one to accept life’s ups and downs gracefully and with equanimity.

‘Ugadi Pachadi’ is a mixture of neem buds, raw mango, tamarind juice, pepper, jaggery and salt and it forms part of the Ugadi dishes.

Named as ‘Krodhi Nama’ this year, Ugadi was celebrated with gaiety and traditional enthusiasm in both the Telugu states.

People offered special prayers, decorated the entrances of their homes and shops with strings of mango leaves, tasted the traditional festival food and heard 'panchangnam' (almanac) to usher in the New Year.

Literary discussions, poetry recitations, recognition of authors through awards and cultural programmes marked the day.

At the main official celebration organised by the Telangana government, Bachampalli Santosh Kumar Shastry read the 'panchangnam' or the forecast of the coming year.

He said there was no need to be worried about the year being named ‘Sri Krodhi Nama’ and added that society will have both good and bad and advised people to deal with the issues calmly without getting angry.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, along with his wife YS Bharathi Reddy participated in the Ugadi celebrations in Palnadu District.

The Chief Minister, who is currently on ‘Memantha Siddham’ yatra for the elections, participated in the celebrations at the yatra camp at Gantavaripalem. The couple received blessings along with prasad from Vedic scholars.

Also present at the event were YSRCP Narasaraopet MP candidate Anil Kumar Yadav, Vinukonda MLA Bolla Brahma Naidu, and MLC Talasila Raghuram and YSRCP General Secretary Lella Appireddy.

Political parties in both the states organised Ugadi celebrations at their respective offices.

Simultaneous elections for the 175-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly and all 25 Lok Sabha seats in that state are scheduled on May 13. The same day all 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana will go to polls.