By IANS,
Kadpa (Andhra Pradesh) : Congress president Sonia Gandhi was Thursday served a sumptuous Rayalaseema lunch at Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy’s house at Idupulapaaya in Kadpa district.
The chief minister, his wife Vijayalaxmi and other family members welcomed Gandhi at their family estate at Idupulapaya, where she also inaugurated the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) established under the aegis of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (RGUKT).
The chief minister’s family treated her to traditional and ethnic items such as ragi sankati, kodi koora and jonna roti.
Gandhi, who arrived at the YSR Estate from Tirupati, rested after the lunch before leaving for Anantapur.
The Congress president later inaugurated the IIIT campus on the 450-acre plot donated by the chief minister’s family. She also unveiled the statue of her late husband, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, and the plaque of the Rajiv Technology Valley.
Speaking on the occasion, Gandhi said the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was making all efforts to make higher education accessible to students in rural areas. “In the next five years there will be huge expansion of colleges and universities in the country,” she said.
“We believe that no young boy or girl should be denied access to higher education just because he or she comes from rural background.”
Rajasekhara Reddy said he was proud to see the IIIT coming up on the land of his forefathers.