Tirupati, Sep 14 (IANS) Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla offered prayers at Sri Venkateswara Temple at Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati district on Sunday.

Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Chairman B.R. Naidu and other officials welcomed the Speaker on his arrival.

After the darshan, the Speaker took the Vedic blessings from the priests in the Ranganayakula Mandapam. TTD Chairman honoured the Speaker with a sacred shawl (sesha vastram) and presented him with prasadam and holy water.

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh and Andhra Pradesh Deputy Speaker Raghurama Krishnam Raju accompanied the Lok Sabha Speaker.

Om Birla arrived at Tirumala on Saturday evening and had a night halt at Sri Krishna Rest House. TTD Additional Executive Officer Ch Venkaiah Chowdary and other officials received the Speaker.

Speaker Om Birla, along with Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu, will inaugurate the first national conference of Parliamentary and Legislative committees on empowerment of women in Tirupati on Sunday.

The Lok Sabha Speaker will also inaugurate an Exhibition and release a Souvenir on the occasion.

Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh Narayan, Speaker of Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly Ayyanna Patrudu, Deputy Speaker Raghurama Krishnam Raju, Lok Sabha Women’s Committee chairperson Daggubati Purandeswari and chairpersons of committees on the Empowerment of women in State/UT Legislatures will be present.

Over 250 delegates from across the country will attend the two-day national conference, whose theme is women’s leadership for Viksit Bharat

According to Andhra Pradesh Legislative Secretary General S. Prasanna Kumar, the conference, conceived by Lok Sabha Speaker, will bring together women parliamentarians, legislators and social activists working on women’s empowerment on a single platform and help in brainstorming ideas.

Representatives of the Joint Committee on Women’s Empowerment, comprising 10 Lok Sabha members, 20 Rajya Sabha members, and members of similar panels in various states, will discuss various aspects of women’s empowerment.

–IANS

ms/dpb