Ganesh festivities in the city this year are likely to take a political hue with Telangana Joint Action Committee (T-JAC) appealing to mandapam organisers to conduct ‘Telangana Aata Pata’ programmes at least for one day during the eleven-day festivities.
“This would aid in propagating the Telangana culture and history, besides supporting the movement,” said TJAC chairman M. Kodandaram here on Monday.
Speaking at the Ganesh Utsav Samiti’s office inauguration event, Mr. Kodandaram also said the TJAC would provide necessary assistance in organising the ‘Aata Pata’ programmes. Meanwhile, the Utsav Samiti has demanded that the government provide free power to mandapams during the festivities in Greater Hyderabad area. Utsav Samiti general secretary Bhagavanth Rao claimed that the festival organisers need only to intimate the police about setting up a pandal and that there was no need to take police permission. He asked the organisers to inform the Samiti if the police insisted on taking permissions. For the convenience of pandal organisers, coordination committees were formed in all the municipal divisions.
A special meeting would be organised with coordination committees and pandal representatives at Nizam College grounds in September first week to discuss the restrictions imposed by police. Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy would be invited for the meeting, said Dr. Rao. There are plans to invite social worker and religious preacher Sadhvi Rithambara as chief guest for the shobha yatra on the immersion day. Utsav Samiti president, G. Raghava Reddy and others spoke on the occasion.
