It was a welcome that Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy may prefer to forget on his first visit to his native district after assuming office.
Though Minister Galla Aruna Kumari was at hand to welcome him, along with many local Congress leaders, the ones who were conspicuous by their absence took the attention away from those present.
Former minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy boycotted the Chief Minister's function and many ZPTCs and MPTCs were also missing.
This absenteeism must be surely rankling KKR, who had to face a similar situation on Friday evening when he visited Tirupati.
His convoy was first stopped by loyalists of Kadapa leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy, who shouted slogans against his adamant stance over the revised relief package.
If that was not enough, the devotees in the temple city also protested, leading him to cancel some assignments.
Friday evening’s programmes saw as many as four MLAs from the district skipping his engagements. The recent events have added fuel to the speculations doing rounds that the party High Command is getting more and more uneasy with KKR’s performance.