Vice-President arrives in Kerala on two-day visit

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 26 (UNI) Vice-President Hamid Ansari arrived here today on a two-day visit to Kerala to participate in various functions.

Kerala Governor R L Bhatia, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan, Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly Oommen Chandy and Ministers received him at the Thiruvananthapuram international airport. He then left for the Raj Bhavan.

In the evening, he would leave for Kozhikode to inaugurate a programme to mark the 202nd anniversary of the martyrdom of Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja, who died fighting the British.

Mr Ansari would inaugurate the eleven-day-long international book fair here tomorrow morning and then leave for Kochi.

He would inaugurate the South India Agricultural fair at the Agricultural University at Mannuthi in Thrissur, before emplaning for Delhi from Kochi.

UNI