Telangana CM K Chandrasekhar Rao makes another hefty gold offering to the gods

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhara Rao, on Wednesday offered gold ornaments worth Rs 5.6 crore at the famous Lord Venkateshwara Temple in Tirupati - attracting scorching criticisms - for spending what many claim to taxpayers money.

CM K Chandrasekhara Rao arrived with his wife and an entourage of cabinet ministers late Tuesday evening on a special flight in what is his maiden visit to the Andhra Pradesh's famous temple shrine for the first time since 2014, since taking up the project of beautification of the state.

KCR handed over a golden garland studded with fossilised shells called "Shaligram Haram" and a multi-layer gold necklace called "Makhara Kantabharanam," totally weighing about 19 kg and worth about Rs 5 crore to the temple Executive Officer, D Sambasiva Rao this morning, reported the PTI.

Even though KCR claims to have made a personal pledge to offer ornaments in temples, there are reports that the Telangana government has picked up the bill for his "gold offerings" at various temples since 2014. There's also a committee of three set up to oversee the making of the ornaments.