Hyderabad BJP MLA Raja Singh Demands Action Over Ganesh Idol Resembling CM Revanth Reddy

T Raja Singh, BJP MLA, Goshamahal, has asked the Hyderabad Commissioner of Police, C V Anand to intervene in a Ganesh Chaturthi pandal controversy in Habeebnagar. The idol was erected by the Telangana Fisheries Federation Chairman, Mettu Sai Kumar and it was said to have a close resemblance to the Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. According to Singh, this kind of representation is disrespectful of the deity and hurts Hindu religious feelings.

Singh in his letter to the police pointed out that Revanth Reddy is not godly, as much as he is the Chief Minister of a very respectable state. Singh reasoned that the imitation is an insult to the festival, Lord Ganesh, and said that the distortion was being done at the expense of the Hindu community. He called on proposals to take immediate measures and to demolish the pandal and restore religious harmony.

Also Read: Army joins rescue, relief operations in flood-hit Telangana

This event relates to larger issues on the question of religious decency and political iconography. Although the festival of Ganesh is strongly rooted in spiritual culture, the incorporation of political leaders of the modern era into the celebrations, as with this example can damage the delineation between worship and politicization, and can be seen to divide and add to tension in society.

Due to the delicate cultural background, the campaign to dissolve the idol is in tandem with the idea to uphold religious practices and avoid religious conflict in the society. The authorities are looking to be questioned to react quickly either to preserve the pandal or to call off the pandal as they weigh faith sensitivities against freedom of expression.

Local residents are still divided. There are those who interpret the image as a tribute to imagination and there are also those who support Raja Singh on the issue by perceiving the image as a misrepresentative provocation of the diminution of spiritual values. According to the political analysts, the face-off highlights the dark interconnectedness of religion and politics in modern Telangana.

Further discussion is likely to be generated in the days to come by the way the people and the police or the police inaction react. And will the idol be reverently taken away to suppress dissent, or shall it stay on, as a marker of artistic expression and political commentary? The unfolding reaction will likely present important information on the way Telangana finds a way around the nexus of reverence, representation, and rhetoric in the most sacred festivals.