Indian politician spends state funds on lavish gifts for temple

NEW DELHI: The head of India’s newest state is facing condemnation after spending US$750,000 (RM3.3mil) in public money on gold temple offerings to thank the gods for realising his long-held ambition.

Chief minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao campaigned for decades for the creation of Telangana state in the south of India and had promised to donate gold to a local temple if he succeeded.

On Wednesday, he flew to a popular Hindu temple in a chartered plane and presented a lotus-shaped necklace weighing nearly 15kg and a 5kg collar as priests chanted vedic hymns, according to media reports.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, an official in the Rao’s office confirmed the donation and said it was “from the government of Telangana and its people”.

Social media users laid into Rao, who has been criticised in the past over his lavish use of public funds. — AFP