The Telangana chief minister is expected to file his nomination papers for Gajwel and Kamareddy segments on 9 November.
Published Nov 04, 2023 | 3:34 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 04, 2023 | 3:34 PM
KCR at the Shri Venkateswara Swami Temple at Konaipally on Saturday. He signed the nomination papers in the temple. (X)
Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday, 4 November, performed special pujas at the Shri Venkateswara Swamy Temple at Konaipally in Siddipet district after placing his nomination papers for Gajwel and Kamareddy Assembly segments at the Lord’s feet.
Finance and Health Minister T Harish Rao welcomed the chief minister while the temple priests offered him temple honours, including the purna kumbham.
After circumambulating the temple, KCR stepped inside and offered puja to the Lord. Temple priests gave him vedashirvachanam. The chief minister signed his nomination papers and placed them before the idol.
This is a tradition that KCR has been following meticulously since 1985.
He placed the nomination papers at the feet of the idol for elections in 1989, 1994,1999, 2001, 2004, and 2009 when Telangana was part of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.
And it was to Konaipally that KCR headed on 27 April, 2001, at a career-defining moment for him.
He had just resigned from the TDP and as the Deputy Speaker of the united Andhra Pradesh Assembly. He went straight to the temple and performed puja to the Lord and then announced his intention to float the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), which has now become the BRS.
He placed the party’s flag, related literature, and cassettes before the idol and offered prayers. Later, he returned to Hyderabad accompanied by a huge motorcade and founded the party at Jala Drishyam on Tank Bund.
It marked the beginning of the second phase of the Telangana movement for which he took the lead. After 14 years of struggle, the Union government acceded to the demand of the people and created a separate Telangana state in 2014.
Before the general elections in 2004, he distributed B-forms to TRS candidates after performing puja to the Lord at Konaipally. KCR contested the Lok Sabha from Karimnagar, and the Assembly from Gajwel, and won both.
In 2009, he again performed the puja before filing the nomination papers to contest the Mahabubangar Lok Sabha seat. Harish Rao and KT Rama Rao, candidates to the state Assembly from Siddipet and Sircilla, respectively, were with him. All three won by huge margins.
In 2014, riding the crest of the popularity wave following the creation of Telangana state, KCR contested the Assembly from Gajwel and the Lok Sabha from Medak and won both. Later he vacated Medak and retained the Gajwel Assembly seat.
In the 2018 elections also, he performed similar pujas and swept the elections with a windfall gain of 88 seats.
After winning back-to-back elections, he started showing a special interest in the temple. It is a unique temple as its main entrance is south-facing, which is rare. KCR even renovated the temple at a cost of ₹3 crore.
The renovation works included the main temple, dhwajashtambham, and the deity inside the temple as well as its compound wall. In 2022, special ceremonies were held to mark the pratishta. The government had constructed a kalyana mandapam in the village by about ₹50 lakh.
KCR went to Konaipally on Saturday after the conclusion of the three-day Raja Shyamala Samhita Subramanyeswara Yagam at his farmhouse.
Sri Sarada Peetadhipati Swami Swaroopanandendra said that KCR had performed the yagam to invoke the divine blessings of Goddess Raja Syamala for the well-being of the people of Telangana. After the Maha Purnahuti, the priests sprinkled sacred water on Rao and his wife, and vibhuti was applied to his forehead.
Priests from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka performed the rituals. Goddess Raja Shyamala is the presiding deity of Visakha Sri Sarada Peetham.
