HYDERABAD: On a day when his one-time friend and TJAC chairman Prof M Kodandaram was forcibly arrested by the police in a pre-dawn swoop in Hyderabad as part of their efforts to foil a rally by unemployed youth, chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Wednesday successfully completed his thanksgiving trip to Tirupati by fulfilling his vow made to Lord Venkateswara during the separate Telangana movement.
Rao presented “Saligrama Haram” to the deity and “Aidu Petala Kante” to Goddess Padmavathi at Tiruchanur.
TTD officials compared Ro to Sri Krishnadevaraya, the iconic emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire, and also Maharaja of then Mysore province for presenting gifts worth Rs 5.4 crore to Lord Balaji.
But, back in Hyderabad, Rao’s act of offering Rs 5.4 crore worth of ornaments to Lord Venkateswara with public money attracted wide criticism from opposition parties. “CM made these offerings in Tirupati to fulfill his vow, when unemployed youth were on streets in Hyderabad seeking jobs. KCR should stop wasting public money on his religious beliefs,” Telangana Congress senior leader Marri Sashidhar Reddy commented.
TTDP unit working president A Revanth Reddy said it was not proper for him to make such an offering with public money, ignoring promises made to people during 2014 polls.
KCR had earlier vowed to present gold ornaments to five temples if separate Telangana was formed. The first Cabinet meeting of the state resolved to present the gifts as per the vows of the CM. Thus, the funds required for the gifts were met from the Common Good Fund, available with the endowments department. In March 2015, the state government issued orders releasing funds.
On Sivaratri, the CM will present gold mustaches to Lord Veerabhadra Swamy in Kuravi in Mahbubabad district. He will soon visit Vijayawada to present a gold nose stud to goddess Kanaka Durga.
Presentation of valuable gifts by TRS government started with the presentation of silk Chadar to Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty Dargah of Sufi saint at Ajmer.