Vijayawada:  The Republic Day was celebrated Monday with gaiety and patriotic fervour in Andhra Pradesh.

The main parade was held at the Indira Gandhi Stadium here. At the first Republic Day celebration in the new state, Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan unfurled the national flag and reviewed a colourful parade.
 
He exuded confidence that the state would recover the lost ground and move on a trajectory of growth and development. "The challenges we face offer huge opportunities provided we strategize properly and put in place mechanisms that accelerate our growth and development," he said.
 
Listing out various initiatives of the government during the last seven months, he said this yielded good results as the state registered an impressive growth rate of 6.9 percent in the first half of the current financial year. He said all three sectors -agriculture, industry and services - contributed to the growth.
 
Earlier, the governor took salute from contingents of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Andhra Pradesh Special Police (APSP), police brass band, National Cadet Corps (NCC), Bharat Scouts Guide, social welfare residential schools and youth Red Cross.
 
Narasimhan paid tributes to Pingali Venkaiah, who designed the national flag and hailed from this region.
 
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, his cabinet colleagues, Chief Secretary I.Y.R. Krishna Rao, Director General of Police J.V. Ramudu and senior officials attended the celebrations.
 
Tableaux of various departments highlighted welfare and development schemes of the government. The tableau of urban development department highlighted the plans for new state capital being developed between Vijayawada and Guntur while that of planning department focused on 'smart Andhra Pradesh' initiative. The departments of fire services, agriculture, irrigation, education and Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) also had their tableaux.
 
Narasimhan, who is the governor of both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, later returned to Hyderabad to participate in the Republic Day parade in Telangana.