Cancer patient's friends hold placards on road, CM Jagan stops convoy to help them

In a heartening gesture, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy stepped in to help a cancer patient get treatment after his friends stood with placards near Visakhapatnam airport, hoping to catch Jagan's attention. Jagan, whose convoy was passing by, stopped the vehicles after seeing the group of young men and heard them. He then directed District Collector K Bhaskar to provide them with whatever help was possible on behalf of the state government. Neeraj, an Intermediate student, was diagnosed with blood cancer and his friends and family told the media that while he was admitted to the Basavatarakam Indo-American Cancer Hospital & Research Institute in Hyderabad for treatment, the medical bill ran up to around Rs 25 lakh. Neeraj's friends informed Jagan that as the family was poor, they were unable to afford the treatment.  According to media reports, the state government has agreed to bear a cost of Rs 20 lakh for his treatment. Friends of Neeraj Kumar, a cancer patient, stood with a banner near Vizag airport, hoping #AndhraPradesh CM #YSJagan would notice them. #Jagan asked his convoy to stop, he got off & met them. Immediately he spoke to the collector & sanctioned Rs 20 lakh for the cancer treatment. pic.twitter.com/YogPCoNh1L— Paul Oommen (@Paul_Oommen) June 4, 2019 On Tuesday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy met with Hindu seer Swamy Swaroopanandendra Saraswati at the latter's ashram in Visakhapatnam. On his first visit to this coastal city after taking over as the Chief Minister last week, Jagan Reddy drove straight to Sharada Peetham. Clad in traditional clothes, the Chief Minister presented gifts to the seer and sought his blessings. Jagan, who is known to practice superstitious beliefs of multiple faiths, is understood to have requested the Sharada Peetham pontiff to fix an 'auspicious' time for the expansion of his Cabinet next week. This was Jagan's first meeting with the seer after the election results were declared. The spiritual guru reportedly congratulated him over the phone and is also believed to have set the muhuratam for his swearing-in as the Chief Minister. Jagan took oath at 12.23 p.m. on May 30 at a public ceremony in Vijayawada. He is likely to expand the cabinet on June 8. The Chief Minister, who reached Visakhapatnam by a special aircraft from Vijayawada, spent an hour at the ashram before returning to Vijayawada and from there to Amaravati. The YSRCP chief had been following Swamy Swaroopanandendra for the last couple of years. Interestingly, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekar Rao also follows the seer and visited his ashram for blessings after winning the Assembly election in December  IANS inputs