BJP MLA opposes Cauvery Aarti
Speaking to reporters in Mysuru on Friday, Mr. Srivatsa questioned the need for the event when the government had no funds to repair roads.
'MLAs were begging for as little as ₹1 or ₹2 crore financial aid from the government for developmental works in their constituencies. In Mysuru, there is a need for funds for underground drainage (UGD),' Mr. Srivatsa said.
But the Congress government wanted to organise the event to show it was also working for Hindutva,' he said.
The amount of money proposed to be spent by the government for the Cauvery Aarti did not seem to be in response to the aspirations of the people, he said, pointing out that the farmers of the region had expressed their opposition to the proposed programme.
He advised the government that keeping the river banks clean itself amounted to performing Aarti.
He opposed the proposed move by the Mysuru district administration to introduce fast-track darshan at the Chamundeshwari Temple atop Chamundi Hills by charging ₹2,000.
Alleging that the State government was trying to collect money from all possible sources, Mr. Srivatsa said the government should instead introduce steps to ensure that all the devotees could have quick darshan. 'How will you manage the queue if a large number of devotees turn up for the fast-track darshan,' he asked, describing it as an unscientific move.
Howeve, he welcomed the move to ban the practice of issuing VIP passes for darshan.
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