Karnataka Govt funding transport - distribution of 50, 00 liters of 'holy water'

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RELIGIOUS AGENDA

Karnataka govt to wash sins by gangajal distribution

Deepa Balakrishnan / CNN-IBN

TimePublished on Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 08:55, Updated on Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 15:08 in Nation section


HOLY GRAIL: BJP has a votebank that thrives on religious sentiments so the Karnataka state government may please its voters.

New Delhi: Holy water from the Ganga is all set to flow into Karnataka today on the occasion of Maha-Shivaratri.

The BJP government in Karnataka is spending lakhs of rupees to take the holy river to 1,500 temples cross the state.

Ganga-jal or holy water from the Ganga river in tankers is the BJP government's unusual gift to the people of Karnataka this Shivratri.

SN Krishnaiah Shetty, Muzrai Minister said, “Gangajal is considered very auspicious for Hindus who call it pavithra gangajal or holy water. That's why we're distributing it for Maha-Shivaratri, which is an important and powerful day."

Nearly 50,000 litres of gangajal has been brought in two tankers across 2000 kilometres.

Ashok Kumar, driver of the tanker too was amazed at the kind of cargo he ferried and said that he has never done something like this before.

This is not the first time that the Muzrai department is showing its eccentric side. A few days after coming to power, this department ordered that every temple should do a puja religious rituals in the name of chief minister Yeddyurappa every morning. It was an order that hugely embarrassed the government and had to be taken back the next day.

Shetty says he doesn't know how much the gangajal distribution will cost and that the devotees are footing the bill.

This is only a way of cooperating with devotees said the minister.

But simple arithmetic will tell you that the whole exercise is going to cost more than a few lakh rupees. Karnataka may not get any new schools or hospitals this year but it will have plenty of holy water.