Bengaluru: Putting speculations to rest, Hindupur MLA and Tollywood actor Nandamuri Balakrishna on Saturday said Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu will attend the two-day Lepakshi festival to be held near Hindupur from February 27.

“He (Chandrababu Naidu) is hundred per cent attending the festival. He is the number one brand of our state, Andhra Pradesh. He is attending”, Balakrishna told reporters here. Andhra Pradesh government is organising the festivalon a grand scale on the lines of Visakha and several other calendar events to promote Telugu art, culture and traditions.

The festival was proposed by Balakrishna as Lepakshi falls under his constituency in Anantapur district, bordering Karnataka. Speculations of Chandrababu Naidu not attending the festival were rife because Balakrishna had not met Naidu to invite him though he met several celebrities and national leaders, including Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu.

“I do not want to disturb the Chief Minister because he is busy with the development of new state. Therefore, I have not visited him”, Balakrishna said on the sidelines of a roadshow held here for the festival. AP IT Minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy, who was also present, said the fact that he and his cabinet colleague Paritala Sunita - are attending this event (roadshow in Bengaluru) clearly shows keenness of government.

Balakrishna said the festival will showcase the unique culture, traditions and cuisine of Rayalaseema including the famous handlooms of Dharmavaram and Mudireddypalli. He said film artistes, singers and musicians from Kannada, Tamil and Telugu film industry would be attending the festival to generate awareness about the tourist place.

Lepakshi is a small village in Anantapur district and is located 15 km away from Hindupur and approximately 120 kms north of Bengaluru. It is culturally and archaeologically significant as it is the location of shrines dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu and Veerabhadra which were built during the rule of Vijayanagara Empire.

PTI