Telangana chief minister to give Rs 5.6 crore of taxpayer’s money in offerings at Tirupati: Report
K Chandrasekhar Rao had pledged to make the offerings if his campaign for a separate state was successful.
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will make offerings worth Rs 5.6 crore in ornaments at the Tirumala Temple in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, NDTV reported. The chief minister had pledged to make offerings to deities in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh if his campaign for a separate state of Telangana was successful. He will travel with his family and cabinet colleagues to Andhra Pradesh’s Balaji Temple.
The news channel reported that the government will be billed for the offerings made, despite the vow being Rao’s personal pledge. A three-member panel was set up to coordinate the manufacturing of these offerings and a Hyderabad-based jeweller was commissioned to make them. “Offerings to the lord are part of his vow made before the realising of Telangana,” said Telangana government’s advisor KV Ramanachary, The Times of India reported.
Officials said he will present a solid gold ornament to Lord Balaji and a nose-stud to Goddess Padmavati, at temples built in their honour in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. He will also offer a moustache of pure gold to the Veerabhadraswamy temple at Kuravi.
In October, the chief minister had presented a gold crown worth Rs 3.5 crore to the Goddess Bhadrakali in Warangal. He had also made offerings of a crown and necklace to deity Venkateswara in Tirumala and a nose stud to Goddess Kanaka Durga in Vijayawada, NDTV reported.