© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Timed to conclude as the nomination filing process begins Friday, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, who has in the past turned to rituals to pray for the formation of Telangana and for mitigating agrarian distress, is in the midst of a special three-day yagam for the “well-being of the state and his party’s victory”.
The Raja Shyamala Sahita Subramanyeswara Yagam, being conducted by the seers of the Visakha Sri Sharada Peetham, Swarupanandendra and Swatmanandendra, along with 170 Vedic priests from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, is being held at the CM’s farmhouse at Erravalli village in Siddipet district.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leaders said the CM was performing the yagam to “bring good fortunes to the state”. “The yagam ensures victory to the performer or ruler,’’ a BRS leader said.
On Thursday, a source said, three lakh raja shyamala mantras were chanted, along with a shatha chandi yagam conducted “for the state’s well-being”. The indra sukta homam and navagraha sukta homam were performed for the “preservation of the whole world”, they said.
This is the third time KCR, who has earlier changed layout of the Secretariat for Vastu reasons, is holding a yagam.
In December 2015, KCR had performed a five-day ritual called the Ayutha Chandi Maha Yagnam, involving 1,500 priests. KCR had hired choppers and chartered planes to personally fly down to invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi, then Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, religious heads and seers for the event.
The scale of the event had attracted criticism from the Opposition, which accused the CM of resorting to religious rituals while the state was battling an agrarian crisis and at a time when 55% of the mandals in the state were facing water shortage.
He had held another yagam, on a much lower scale, in May 2011, for the early formation of Telangana.
The ongoing three-day ritual comes amidst an election where the Congress seems confident of giving it a tough fight, taking heart from its Karnataka win earlier this year. The BJP, which looked on course to replace the Congress as the main opposition after a string of poll victories in the state since 2020, has lost steam.
While KCR’s yagyam will wind up on Friday, others will be hoping to propitiate the gods. BJP leaders T Raja Singh and Bandi Sanjay Kumar, and Telangana PCC chief A Revanth Reddy are set to perform rituals at the Bhagya Lakshmi temple near Charminar before they file their nominations.
Sanjay Kumar, who is contesting from the Karimnagar seat, will also perform rituals at the Yadadri temple and pray for his party’s victory.
Medak BRS MLA Padma Devender Reddy will go to the Edupayala Vana Durga temple and take a dip in the Manjeera river for her third consecutive victory; the BRS’ Ramagundam incumbent MLA K Chander will go to the Trilanga Raja Rajeshwara Swamy temple.
