Prez candidate Kovind takes part in Vaibhavotsav in Vijayawada

The NDA's presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind today offered prayers to Lord Venkateswara at the Sri Venkateswara Vaibhavotsav being conducted by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams in Vijayawada.
Kovind, who was here as part of his election campaign, drove to Swaraj Maidan along with Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu and had 'darshan' of the Lord, a replica of the famous Tirumala deity specially installed for the festival.
After prayers, Kovind received blessings by Vedic scholars who also presented him the Lord's 'prasadam'.
The TTD is conducting Vaibhavotsav at the Swaraj Maidan till July 9.

Earlier, Chandrababu Naidu hosted high tea for the presidential nominee at the convention centre after a meeting with the TDP and BJP MPs and legislators.
BJP national general secretary Muralidhar Rao explained the voting process to the lawmakers and asked them to exercise caution in marking their choice.

"Don't use your own pen. Use only the special pen given by the polling staff and draw only a vertical line against the candidate's name. Don't write or mark anything else. If you falter, your vote becomes invalid," Rao warned.
If a legislator realised he made a mistake in marking the choice, he could immediately seek a second ballot paper and make a right choice, the BJP leader said.

"But don't make a mistake in the first place," he added.
Venkaiah Naidu said mistakes happen either out of overzealousness or anxiety.
"It's the graduates, followed by teachers, who make mistakes in casting votes. MLAs and MPs are next in that order," he said.
The Andhra Pradesh chief minister, however, said never once did his party legislators mark their votes wrong.
"Our people never committed such mistakes and let the votes become invalid. Also, there is no question of any cross-voting in Andhra Pradesh," he said.
Andhra Pradesh is the only state where all votes, barring four of the Congress, would go to the NDA candidate, he added.

"Going by the support he enjoys, Kovind will secure over 70 per cent of votes across the country. We are honoured to be supporting him," Chandrababu Naidu remarked.