YSRCP, BJP vie to roll out red carpet

Visakhapatnam: Is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Visakhapatnam to launch several developmental programmes a government function or a party function? This is the issue that has become a matter of controversy between the YSRCP and the state BJP.

Leaders of both the parties are vying with each other in monitoring and supervising the arrangements. While the BJP claims that this visit was the result of an invitation extended by the party MP GVL Narsimha Rao who had requested Modi in August to visit Vizag at his convenience, the YSRCP MP Vijayasai Reddy said it was a Government programme.

Rebutting the claim, BJP state president Somu Veeraraju said "If it is a government event, why is an MP of the ruling party announcing it? Where is the need for him to announce that lakhs of people will attend the Prime Minister's public meeting? He should stop the dramas." But Reddy reiterated that it was a government programme and the Prime Minister will address a public meeting on November 12.

The YSRC leadership, BJP leaders claim, was trying to use the Prime Minister's trip to Vizag to showcase the "close bond" Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy enjoys with Modi. The interesting part is that so far there is no official confirmation of the exact events in which Modi would be participating. The Prime Minister will arrive in Visakhapatnam on November 11 and take part in a series of programmes the next day.