India: Andhra Pradesh chief minister Jagan Reddy gets a temple in his honour for welfare schemes

Hyderabad: A State Assembly Member in Andhra Pradesh has built a temple in honour of his leader and state Chief Minister Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy to showcase nine social welfare schemes of his government.

B. Madhusudhan Reddy, ruling YSR Congress MLA from Chittoor district, has built the temple with many images of Jaganmohan Reddy in Srikalahasti town, already home to ancient and famous temples.

The temple called “Navaratnalu Nilayam” has cost the MLA Rs 20 million and was built by crasftsmen from neighbouring states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

“The purpose behind building the temple is to showcase the nine major social welfare schemes of YS Jagan government”, said the MLA, a known staunch loyalist of the Chief minister.

While the images of the Chief Minister are embedded all around the sprawling temple, specially in gold and silver coloured structure, the highlight of the temple were the nine pillars, each carrying the name and details of one welfare scheme.

Even since he took over charge of the state in 2019, Jaganmohan Reddy has created a record of sorts by launching numerous welfare schemes for women, farmers and other weaker sections of the society, offering many sops like free education, free medical treatment, financial assistance to farmers and social welfare pensions.

“YS Jaganmohan Reddy has outperformed several chief ministers in the country and his Navaratnalu (9 gems) schemes have impacted the lives of over 56 million people across the state”, Madhusudhan Reddy said.

The Jagan temple has some novel features. Unlike a normal temple, here the visitors will not be given any Prasadam or holy sweet to savour. Instead they will be handed over pamphlets detailing the welfare programmes of the government.

Similarly, the people will not have to drop currency notes into the cash-box of the temple, but they can make a complaint on any issue by dropping a letter into a special box kept at the entrance of the temple.

While a loyal follower has built a Hindu-style temple in his honour, Jagan Reddy is a Christian by faith.

Building temples to idolise a political leader is not new for the southern states of India and there are many such temples in the region. Earlier, followers of Congress President Sonia Gandhi had built a temple in Karimnagar as a thanksgiving for playing a vital role in formation of Telangana state in 2014.

A man had also built a temple devoted to Donald Trump when he had become the President of the United States.