KCR offers prayers at Tirupati temple

Tirupati, May 27 (IANS) Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao along with his family members offered prayers at Lord Venkateswara Temple at Tirumala here on Monday.

Chandrashekhar Rao, his wife Shobha Rao and other family members worshipped and participated in various rituals conducted by temple priests.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, and his family members had reached Tirupati in a special aircraft on Sunday evening. After the night halt at Tirumala, they offered prayers.

Officials of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the affairs of the hill shrine, welcomed the Telangana Chief Minister.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) chief prayed at the famous temple for the first time after assuming office as the Chief Minister for the second term in December last year.

Interestingly KCR's visit to the temple in Andhra Pradesh came close on the heels of his bete noire N. Chandrababu Naidu losing power in the state.

YSR Congress Party of Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, with whom TRS has friendly ties, stormed to power with a landslide victory on Thursday.

Though KCR's party bagged maximum number of Lok Sabha seats (9) in Telangana, the results were disappointing for the party as the BJP made huge inroads winning 4 seats. Congress won 3 seats and TRS ally All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) one.

KCR's daughter K. Kavitha was defeated in Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency and his plans for Federal Front to form a non-BJP and non-Congress government at the Centre were foiled by BJP's massive victory in the polls.

Jagan Mohan Reddy had called on KCR in Hyderabad on Saturday to invite him to attend his swearing-in as the Chief Minister at Vijayawada on May 30.

KCR will attend the swearing-in and also pray at Kanakadurga temple in Vijayawada.