Hyderabad: Talasani Srinivas Yadav wades into another row

Hyderabad: After sporting a donor controversy, State Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav, for the second time, has given a rude shocker to the devotees during his recent visit to the Yellamma temple.

During the Bonalu Utsav, a video surfaced of the minister purportedly spitting on the temple premises.”It is an utmost disrespect to the deity and the sanctity of the temple premises making the devotees furious,” says BJP leader and former Minister Marri Sashidhar Reddy.

On Friday, he said the Bonalu festival is observed in every ‘Mata’ (mother goddess)temple in the city. He advised Talasani to stop the habit (if he has one) of consuming or chewing tobacco products at least a day before visiting any temple. So that here is no scope for him to spit in any temple premises again.

He recalled how earlier to the Kalyanam at the Yellamma temple, on June 20, huge boards appeared on the top of the sheds erected on the three sides of the temple “with the name of the temple and Minister Srinivas Yadav as the donor.”

The temple executive officer claims that the minister had donated Rs 5 lakh to the shed erected. But, there is no sign of such a donation ever made. “On the plaque that was unveiled at the time of the inauguration of the shed on February 4, 2022, names of some donors ranging from Rs 5.10 lakh to Rs 50,000 are mentioned. How come Talasani’s name is not there?” he asked.

Even if the minister had donated the sum, how can his name alone be shown as the donor on the board put up?

Shashidhar Reddy urged the Police Commissioner to take serious note of these things and enforce strict measures to ensure that the rest of the festivities, including Bonalu at different places in Hyderabad passes without any outward incidents.