KHAMMAM: Less than a week after lodging a strong protest with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah on how the State government was denigrating the institution of Raj Bhavan, Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundarajan on Monday faced yet another instance of discomfiture when she went to Bhadrachalam to witness the Pattabhishekam of Lord Rama organised a day after the celestial wedding of Lord Rama with Sita at the famed Bhadradri temple.
The Governor, who is sore with the State government for not bothering to follow rules of protocol whenever she is visiting, had to remain content with the reception accorded by low-rung officers on her arrival at Bhadrachalam Road Railway Station (Kothagudem), which is 50 km from Bhadrachalam town.
The Governor lately is quite unhappy with a series of protocol violations allegedly committed by the State government. Among the instances that she narrated to the PM and HM were how the State government skipped the Governor’s address on the first day of the Budget session of the Assembly. Secondly, she was ignored when Yadadri temple was inaugurated by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and when the CM skipped the Panchanga Sravanam at Raj Bhavan on Ugadi Day. Similarly, no official had followed her on her visit to Sammaka Saralamma Jatara in Mulugu district recently.
On Monday, apparently to her entourage’s dismay, there was no Collector or SP to receive her at Bhadrachalam Road Railway Station though she happens to be the head of the State government. The protocol, according to official sources, lays down that wherever the Governor visits, the Collector and SP of the district concerned should receive her.
Substituting for District Collector D Anudeep and SP Sunil Dutt, Additional Joint Collector K Venakateswarlu and Kothagudem RDO welcomed her at the railway station, early on Monday. The reason given for the absence of the Collector and SP was that both of them were on leave for 48 hours. After resting for a while at the Singareni Collieries Guest House, she visited the Ramalayam where temple authorities led by EO B Shivaji and ASP B Rohith Raju welcomed her.
When asked how she felt about the Collector and SP’s absence, Tamilisai said she visited Bhadrachalam to worship Lord Rama and not for any grand reception by officers. “I am very happy that I could visit the temple and take the blessing of the Lord. I prayed to God to keep Covid-19 away from Telangana,” the Governor said. She advised people to go in for vaccination big time to see the end of the infection. Calling herself the sister of the people of Telangana, she said she had prayed for their well-being and prosperity.
Received by district officials at railway station
In the absence of District Collector D Anudeep and SP Sunil Dutt, Additional Joint Collector K Venakateswarlu and Kothagudem RDO welcomed Governor Tamilsai Soundararajan at the railway station, early on Monday. The reason given for the absence of the Collector and SP was that both of them were on leave for 48 hours