The wedding of Botsa Anusha, daughter of transport minister and PCC president Botsa Satyanaraya-na, has the local officials in jitters. They are under tremendous pressure to provide accommodation and “official” vehicles for VVIPs and VIPs attending the affair to be held in neighbouring Viziangaram on Friday.
The Governors of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have confirmed their visits. The entire state Cabinet ministers including Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, 15 Union ministers along with newly sworn-in tourism minister K. Chiranjeevi, 30 MPs and more than 150 MLAs are to attend the wedding.
In a coincidence of sorts, most of the ministers are visiting Vizag on “official” work and then planning to attend the wedding in Viziangaram on Friday evening.
Given the large number of VVIPs, maintaining protocol is turning out to be a problem since the local office is understaffed — Vizag is not a prominent destination due to lack of political and government related activity.
Therefore, a battery of tahsildhars, MROs, special grade deputy collectors have been deployed by the local administration to take care of the guests.
The transport and police departments are hiring more than 200 private vehicles. The transport department is hiring 150 vehicles on Thursday and Friday paying Rs.1,000 per day per vehicle. In all, it is spending Rs. 3 lakh to hire vehicles for “official” movements.
Transport department sleuths are also said to be pressurising taxi operators. “We are hiring private vehicles to use them as part of the convoys,” in charge deputy transport commissioner G. Krishnaiah told this newspaper.
In a last-minute arrangement, local officials are said to have brought in beacon lights from Hyderabad to fit on cars carrying VIPs.
With the government circuit house having limited accommodation and given the long list of the guests officials had to find rooms for them in star hotels on the Beach Road and also in guest houses belonging to various PSUs located in the vicinity.
“Ministers have suddenly decided to hold ‘review’ meetings at Vizag just to attend the VIP wedding. These review meetings are meant to legitimise the visits of these ministers,” said social activist and former bureaucrat, E.A.S. Sarma.