Telangana CM K Chandrashekhar Rao has created controversy by holding a religious ceremony costing Rs 7 crores, even as farmers in the state continue to suffer.
According to an NDTV report, the chief minister has admitted that the cost of the yagna will come to Rs 7 crore, but claimed that the state government will not foot the bill.
"Some relatives and friends have come forward and I am spending from my account," he said. "Not a single paise from the government is being spent. Even for generators and RTC bus, we are paying."
The five-day ritual is to be conducted near his farmhouse at Erravelli in Medak district. It will involve 108 yagna platforms and 1500 priests, says the report. What's more, President Pranab Mukherjee and several other dignitaries will be part of the guest list, which numbers around 50,000 people.
But some farmers are feeling terribly anguished at the actions of the CM.
Barely 10 kilometres from the venue lies the Pirlapally village, where farmer Nalla Kishtaiah had lost his crop on two successive seasons and was unable to face debtors or his own family. Therefore, he committed suicide.
His son, Raju, a student of Class 9, says he feels let down by the government.
"As the chief minister, he should help families like us who are really suffering. Did he not promise homes and pensions? We have neither of that,'' said the boy who has started working as a labourer to make the ends meet.
"We live so close by. He must have come here so many times. He should come at least today and help us. Otherwise how will my children survive, how will I educate them?" said his mother Renuka. "Will he agree to see me if I go and tell him about the terrible situation in which I and my children are? Will they let me in?'' she asks, in tears.
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