Hyderabad: The usually green environs of LB Stadium turned pink on Saturday as thousands of TRS supporters thronged Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s public meeting ahead of the GHMC elections.
As the stadium under the towering floodlights was packed completely, thousands gathered outside the stadium too to listen to their favourite leader. Vehicles were seen parked from near the stadium till upper Tank Bund. The highlight was a Bonalu procession, and Lambada and gusadi dances, as also the traditional ‘kolatam’ dance. Some die-hard supporters arrived at the stadium wearing pink turbans while many played Bathukamma inside the stadium.
The main stretches connecting the stadium from Tank Bund, Liberty crossroads, Secretariat, Ravindra Bharathi and Nampally among other areas sported the party flags and posters welcoming supporters. The traffic island in front of Nizam College too turned pink with the posters of the Chief Minister and KT Rama Rao, the TRS working president, and so is the case inside the stadium, in fact, even more with the huge cutouts of the two being put up.
Much before 3 pm, people were seen arriving in groups to occupy the front rows for a glimpse of the Chief Minister. Most supporters took out bike rallies in their respective municipal divisions before reaching the stadium.
Wearing pink caps and scarves, people, especially women, came in large numbers to the meeting, and the premises were reverberated with ‘Jai Telangana’ and ‘Jai KCR’ slogans. Police frisked everyone thoroughly before allowing attendees inside.
To avoid traffic chaos after the entry of vehicles, especially buses, vans, auto trolleys and bikes, the city police made separate parking arrangements.
The high-rise buildings abutting the stadium came as handy for the police to keep surveillance on those arriving at the meeting. A close watch was also maintained through CCTV cameras installed at the Basheerbagh junction, traffic island in front of Nizam College and the junction at the Traffic Police Control room on the Basheerbagh Road.
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