Lucknow, September 7 (BDNEWS)- Flying down in a chartered plane straight from Uzbekistan, former US president Bill Clinton touched base here Wednesday morning to attend a 'private' banquet hosted by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav.
The only stated programme on his daylong itinerary is the banquet at Yadav's official residence at night.
Prominent among those expected to join the banquet were former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who was to fly down to Lucknow specially for the party.
The select guest list of about 200 includes leading Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Anil Kapoor, Jaya Prada and Hema Malini.
The chief minister did not go to receive the former US president, nor did he depute any minister to do so on his behalf. Amidst very tight security, Clinton was received by chief secretary Neera Yadav, principal home secretary Alok Sinha and chief minister's principal secretary Anil Kumar, accorfing to wire services.
Even chief minister's right hand man and chairman of UP Development Council Amar Singh, who was described as the key promoter of the visit, failed to show up at the airport when Clinton arrived at 7.15 a.m.
He was driven straight to Taj Hotel, where several suites were booked for his entourage that includes well-known expatriate hotel magnate Sant Singh Chatwal.
Huge banners and welcome arches emboldened with 'Uttar Pradesh government welcomes president Clinton' were put up all along the 14-km route from the airport to his place of stay.
Asked why he was being addressed as 'president' and not ex-president, principal home secretary Sinha told IANS, 'It was after much discussion that the government had decided to address him as president - to show our respect for him.'
Sinha said: 'The visit is purely private.'
Among others in the delegation were members of the Clinton Foundation, including Douglas Band, Rank Gustra, Justin Cooper, Jay Carson and Tim Philips. Two others, Darcy Landsman and Satish Narayanan, had arrived Tuesday.
The banquet will be preceded by an entertainment show by choreographer Shiamak Dawar's troupe at a specially erected tent auditorium on the lawns of the chief minister's residence.
Strict secrecy was being maintained about his schedule. As against the earlier announcement of his launching the state's first Rural Health Mission, Clinton was stated to be keeping his visit 'totally private'.
Sinha said: 'Perhaps after a tiring flight, he would like to get some good sleep so that he could get over his jet-lag.'
Sources however said the former US president was likely to join controversial business tycoon and Sahara group chief Subrata Roy Sahara for lunch at the latter's palatial mansion called 'Sahara Shahar'.
BDNEWS/1257hrs.
