YSR Congress party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy may be a Christian by faith, but being the head of the state, he has to display a secular appeal to the people.
Especially after his refusal to sign the declaration of faith in Tirumala temple became a big issue and the recent incidents of attacks on temples and vandalization of idols of Hindu gods once again brought his Christian faith to the fore, Jagan has become a little cautious.
Setting aside his personal faith, Jagan, in the capacity of the chief minister, is behaving like a typical Hindu, when he visits temples and participates in Hindu rituals.
He has made it a point to wear silk clothes, sport tilakam on forehead and following the Hindu traditions as required on the occasion.
On Friday, too, Jagan participated in Gopuja Mahotsavam (cow worship ceremony) which was organised by Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) at Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium in Vijayawada. He extended Sankranti greetings to all the people present on the occasion.
The cow worship festival is part of the state-wide programme being organised by the Endowments Department along with TTD at 2,679 temples.
Since cow worship is dearer to the Hindus, it is nothing but natural that Jagan sought to appease the Hindus by taking part in the festival.
But, the TDP, as is its wont, looked at it in political angle. TDP Andhra unit president K Atchan Naidu alleged that Jagan was using the most sacred 'Gopuja' (cow worship) programme for deriving political mileage.
He said that Jagan had a knack for 'doing bankrupt politics' in each and every issue right from the beginning. The cow worship was also part of his strategy to mix religion with politics.
“Nobody would believe the Chief Minister's trust or faith in any God or religion,” Atchan said.
