Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's thanksgiving trip to the Tirumala temple tomorrow will cost the taxpayer Rs 5.6 crore. Mr Rao, his family and his ministers will travel to Lord Balaji's temple this evening for the vow he had taken during his campaign for a separate Telangana. The Chief Minister had pledged ornaments to various gods and goddesses in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh if his mission succeeded.
Mr Rao aka KCR is expected to present a solid gold ornament to Lord Balaji and a nose-stud to Goddess Padmavati, both revered deities at Tirupati. Later this week, he will present a moustache of pure gold to the Veerabhadraswamy temple at Kuravi.
The Chief Minister will take a special flight to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh for the Tirumala visit. Since Telangana was born in 2014, the government has picked up the tab for "gold offerings" at various temples even though Mr Rao took a personal pledge. A committee of three was also set up to oversee the making of the ornaments.
