Srivari annual float festival concludes

Tirumala: The five-day annual Float Festival of Lord Venkateswara concluded on a grand scale here on Wednesday. The processional deity of Lord Malayapa Swamy and His Consorts were taken out in a procession from Srivari temple to Srivari Pushkarni near the temple on the concluding day. Minister for Endowments C Ramachandraiah, APLC chairman Chakrapani and Upa Lokayukta Krishnaji Rao participated in the festival on the concluding day and had the Lord's darshan. Speaking on the occasion, temple chief priest Ramana Deekshitulu has said that Malayapa Swamy would fulfil the wishes of all his devotees. MLC Dadi Veerabhadra Rao has also participated in the procession.A It was alleged that TTD officials are more interested in doing service to the Ministers instead of the Lord. Even though women are not permitted to enter the Srivari float, TTD officials allowed wife of the Endowment Minister onto the float. This led to an argument. TTD Chairman K Bapiraju, Joint Executive Officer KS Srinivasa Raju, Chief Vigilance and Security Officer (CV&SO) GVG Ashok Kumar, Sivakumar Reddy, Additional CV&SO Ramesh Reddy, Deputy EO Chinnamagari Ramana, Rama Rao and devotees took part in the programme.