Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has cancelled his scheduled visit to Puttaparthi in Andhra Pradesh tomorrow following threats from TDP workers to block his entry as protest against the arrest of their leader Chandrababu Naidu over the Babhli irrigation project row.
Chavan, an ardent devotee of Satya Sai Baba, was supposed to arrive by a special flight tomorrow morning in Puttaparthi and proceed by road to Prasanthi Nilayam, the abode of the Baba. However, given the ongoing agitation against the arrest of the TDP chief and 74 others, party leaders had vowed to block his entry into the state.
Following this, the Satya Sai Trust advised Chavan to cancel his proposed visit, official sources said here. Accordingly, Chavan's office informed the Anantapur district Superintendent of Police that the Maharashtra Chief Minister's trip has been cancelled, the sources added.
Seething over Chavan in the manner in which a leader of Naidu's stature has been treated by the Maharashtra government and the police "excesses" on the party legislators arrested there, the TDP said it would block the formers visit to Puttaparthi. PTI
