Telugu Desam Party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu could not make it to the Republic Day celebrations held at Indira Gandhi stadium in Vijayawada on Friday.
Perhaps this for the first time that chief minister of any state did not attend the Republic Day celebrations of his or her state.
Though it is the Governor who hoists the national flag and receives the ceremonial parade, the presence of the chief minister as head of the state is customary and there were no instances in the past of a chief minister skipping the event.
Naidu was, in fact, expected to attend the Republic Day parade in Vijayawada. His flight was supposed to land at Gannavaram airport by 7 am and the parade was to start at 12 noon.
However, Naidu flight got stuck up at Abu Dhabi airport due to bad weather and flights were not allowed to take off due to dense fog.
As a result, Naidu conveyed to the authorities in Vijayawada that he would not be able to attend the ceremonial Republic Day parade and asked them to go ahead with the Governor.
His wife Bhuvaneshwari hoisted the national flag at the chief minister’s official residence and attended the Republic Day parade at Indira Priyadarshini grounds along with grandson Devansh.
Chief Secretary Dinesh Kumar received the Governor and conducted the function.
