Two days after offering gold ornaments worth Rs 5.6 crore at the famous Lord Venkateshwara Temple in Tirupati, K Chandrashekhar Rao on Friday has offered bangaru meesalu (gold moustache) costing around Rs 75,000 at Kuravi Veerabhadra Swamy Temple.
Rao, along with his family members and officials, will offer the gold moustache to the temple’s presiding deity in Kuravi, 70 km from Warangal.
According to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the affairs of the richest temple, the government of Telangana donated two jewels which includes Saligrama Haram weighing about 14.148 kg, and five stepped Kante Haram weighing about 4.924 kg taking. The total weight was about 19.072 kg and costs around Rs 5 crore.
In October 2016, he presented a 11.7 kg gold crown that was worth over Rs 3 crore, to Goddess Bhadrakali at Warangal, on the occasion of Durga Navratri.
Leaders of main opposition Congress demanded that KCR stop wasting public money on his religious beliefs. Senior leader M Sashidhar Reddy said it was not good on part of a Chief Minister to make such an offering with public money.
The Bharatiya Janata Party too criticised KCR. Party spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao said that KCR possibly is the only CM in the entire country who spends public money so brazenly for personal reasons.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)