HYDERABAD: TPCC spokesperson and Sri Akkanna Madanna Mahankali Mandiram patron G Niranjan on Thursday wrote to Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy requesting him to direct the Telangana government to allow Bonalu festival and procession in the twin cities.
Niranjan argued that Bonalu is an age-old custom and part of Telangana’s cultural tradition. Bonalu had been declared the State festival in 2014. People of the State seek the blessings of Goddess Mahankali to protect their families and humanity and this would also include protection from the Covid pandemic, he said.
Niranjan said that the Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav had announced that the government would not allow the Bonalu festival this year in view of Covid restrictions. But this would deeply impact the sentiments of the people, he explained. Earlier, senior Congress leader V Hanumantha Rao said those women who wanted to carry Bonam should do so and asked the State government to rethink its decision on permission for the festival.