Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Saturday visited Tank Bund to oversee the Ganesh idol immersion at Hussain Sagar. Arriving with a small convoy and without traffic clearance, he moved among the devotees like a common participant. Wearing a saffron scarf with Lord Ganesha’s image, he greeted devotees with chants of “Ganpati Bappa Morya.”

In a first, a sitting CM stood on the podium set up by the Bhagyanagar Ganesh Utsav Samiti, though Reddy declined to address the gathering when handed a microphone.

To manage the massive event, police deployed 35,000 personnel across Hyderabad. Nearly 50,000 idols are expected to be immersed in Hussain Sagar alone, with the immersion process running for over 40 hours, starting Saturday morning.