Khammam: The plays being organised during the Bathukamma festival for the last eight days were marked more by sound and conspicuous consumption while there was less of an attempt to protect the sanctity of the traditions in Khammam.
The MLAs and corporators of the ruling party competed with each other in conducting the programmes in their respective areas by spending money in lakhs. Top business houses followed the footsteps of the ruling party leaders and butted in with huge spend of money.
The sounds from DJ systems reverberated in areas around the KMC office, the ZP Centre and the Mamata College Road.
Sattupalli MLA Sandra Venkata Veeraiah organised the Bathukamma programmes in a grand gala manner in all the mandal headquarters in the constituency. He mobilised hundreds of women and men in Tallada, Vemsoor, Sathupalli, Penuballi and Kallur.
It is alleged that the ruling party leaders spending lakhs of rupees turned the events into a show-off for their strength. Massive Batukammas were made 15 to 20 feet high with colourful flowers to mark the occasion.
P Sampat, a teacher in Penuballi, said, “The cause of protection of the culture and traditions of Bathukamma, a brand festival of Telangana, has taken the back seat. Instead, sound and hungama came to fore.”
In Khammam, ruling party corporators stole the show by making their presence felt in every Bathukamma event. Some of the corporators had paid handsomely to the organisers to erect flexis welcoming the corporators.
The DJ sound systems created more sound while traffic jams were evident at various localities. The police blocked many roads to enable the ruling party to do a show-off at the Bathukamma. The people were largely inconvenienced by these acts.
Business houses like the Chennai Shopping Mall, CMR and GV Mall jumped into the frenzy created by the politicians and crafted mega Bathukammas in front of their malls.
G Bhaskar, a shop-keeper in Kaman Bazar said, “The presence of the leaders is more than the involvement of the people in the Bathukamma festival now. Earlier, people used to organise the Batukamma in their streets and invite the local leaders there. Now, the leaders organise the programme on their own and ask women devotees to get involved in it.”
