CM Kiran meets President in Hyderabad

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy and others called on President Pranab Mukherjee at the Rashtrapati Nilayam here on Sunday.

The Chief Minister made a courtesy visit to the President, official sources said. Mukherjee arrived here on December 19 for his customary winter sojourn. He visited Tamil Nadu and Kerala last week for several engagements, including unveiling of a statue of former Kerala Chief Minister K Karunakaran.

The President would stay at the Rashtrapati Nilayam at Bolarum, Secunderabad during his sojourn from December 19 to 31 Rashtrapati Nilayam is one of the two official retreats of the President of India, the other being 'The Retreat Building' in Shimla.

It is customary for the President to visit Rashtrapati Nilayam and stay there at least once a year and conduct official business from there. Located at Bolarum in Secunderabad, the 11-room single-storey building spread over 90 acres, which houses the Rashtrapati Nilayam, was handed over to the President's Secretariat after the erstwhile state of Hyderabad was liberated from the Nizam.

Meanwhile, both sides of the regional divide in Andhra Pradesh, those in support and against division of the state, also met the President. TDP's Seemandhra MLAs met the President and urged him to stall the process of division which is taken up for political gains, TDP MLA D Narendra told reporters.

TRS leader G Vivek, who was a Congress MP, and other party leaders also met the President. Mukherjee would visit Ananatapur district tomorrow.