Lucknow Mahotsav deferred till further orders

LUCKNOW: Hours after holding press conference to brief about the events to be held in Lucknow Mahotsav scheduled from January 17, the district administration on Monday night announced to defer the event till further orders citing 'unavoidable reasons'.
When contacted, the district magistrate, Abhishek Prakash said that the decision has been taken after meeting with higher officers in the evening.He, however, did not cite any specific reason, while other administrative officers said the event has been postponed due to security reasons and preparation of mega Defence Expo scheduled in February.
The 10-day Lucknow Mahotsav is held every year from November 25 to showcase the food, culture and heritage of the city, besides organising entertainment programmes. However, it was deferred last year for January 2020 in the wake of Ayodhya verdict by the Supreme court.
All the preparations were complete. In fact, DM held a curtain raiser press conference along with Lucknow divisional commissioner Mukesh Meshram in the afternoon in which they announced that though the venue of the Mahotsav will be Ramabai Ambedkar Maidan, it will be formally inaugurated in the historical premises of the Residency.
Names of celebrities to take part in entertainment programmes along with the itinerary of other indoor and outdoor event were also released.
The divisional commissioner, who is also head of the Mahotsav committee, also said that the inaugural event will coincide with the launch of light and sound show at Residency, depicting history and culture of Lucknow, to be held on regular basis at the monument.
However, in the evening the decision of postponement was announced with a single line press note.