While Andhra Pradesh observed the second International Day of Yoga with much fanfare, neighbouring Telangana largely ignored it.
Andhra chief minister Chandrababu Naidu began the day by participating in a massive programme organised in the temporary capital Vijayawada along with Union railway minister Suresh Prabhu, who was the chief guest.
Both Naidu and Prabhu, and almost the entire cabinet, practiced Yoga alongside hundreds of participants.
Naidu called yoga a vehicle to achieve inner peace and urged the people to carry forward this culture of healthy living.
As part of the Yoga Day, programmes were also organised in other cities of the state such as Visakhapatnam and Tirupati, and also at several colleges and universities.
But in contrast to this festive atmosphere, in Telangana the observation of Yoga day was confined to only the Raj Bhavan, where governor ESL Narasimhan and his wife took part in a special programme.
They practiced yogasanas in a low-key affair along with the Raj Bhavan staff and some special invitees. But Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao and his cabinet ministers were kept busy with regular work and some special events on the death anniversary of Professor Jaisankar, the ideological force behind the recent Telangana movement.
This, however, is not a new development. The Telangana government did not officially observe International Yoga Day even last year, sources said.
