Unlike ESL Narasimhan, new Governor does not go to temples daily

Hyderabad: Back in 2009, when a senior police officer suggested that a small Hanuman temple could be constructed within the sprawling Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad so that the daily visits of Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan to a temple outside could be avoided in the interests of security, Raj Bhavan politely communicated to the officer that he better “focus on the security” to be provided to the VIP instead of coming up with suggestions like that.

Close to a decade now, dozens of policemen have had to be deployed at all points from Raj Bhavan to the Hanuman temple in Khairatabad or other temples across the city, early in the morning, to ensure seamless passage for Mr Narasimhan’s convoy every day — much to the frustration of road users.

But now, both the policemen on the ground and the top brass have received a piece of news that will give them some respite.

Unlike Mr Narasimhan, the newly appointed Governor, Ms Tamilisai Soundararajan, is not an everyday temple visitor. Government sources told Deccan Chronicle that soon after the appointment of Ms Soundararajan, which came as a surprise to the K Chandrasekhar Rao government, officials handling VIP security started to gather information about the functioning, likes and dislikes and routine of the Governor-designate, who will be sworn-in as the second Governor of Telangana state on Sunday.

“She is a doctor by profession and though she is a religious person, she does not believe in visiting temples every day. Doctors normally do not have this kind of a rationale. She does visit major temples once in a while,” sources said, adding that Mr Narasimhan was perhaps the only Governor who would visit temples every day. Officials say that Raj Bhavan will be witnessing a flurry of activity as Ms Soundararajan is very active when it comes to public engagements.

“Unlike the outgoing Governor, she has been a politician for several years and her interactions with the public have always been on top of her agenda. At the Raj Bhavan, too, we expect that she will have lots of visitors, political and otherwise. She is also a good orator and therefore will participate in several programmes and functions, both government and private,” sources said.

Prior to her appointment as Telangana state Governor, Ms Soundararajan was the Tamil Nadu BJP president.

As for Mr Narasimhan, his temple visits have often come in for severe criticism not only from the common man but also politicians.

The former Director of the Intelligence Bureau used to visit the Khairatabad Hanuman temple between 6.30 am and 7.30 am.

He would spend about 45 minutes there and then return, by which time there would be a lot of traffic on the roads.  

Though Mr Narasimhan himself would advise security personnel to take it easy, they obviously could not have done so in view of the security threats.  “We had actually got used to the (temple) schedule as this was going on since 2009,” smiled a police official.

Besides his daily routine of visiting Khairtabad temple, Mr Narasimhan would visit the Balaji temple at Himayatnagar every Thursday. Apart from official functions, he also visited bookstores and malls regularly.

Mr Narasimhan and his wife regularly visited the Raghavendraswamy Mutt in Barkatpura, Mahankali temple in Secunderabad, Skandagiri temple, Ayyappa temple in Bolaram and Chilkur Balaji temple.