K'tka health minister writes letter to deity to make him Deputy CM

Bengaluru, Sep 17 Even as the debate on a possible Cabinet expansion in Karnataka is still raging, state Health and Family Welfare Minister B. Sriramulu on Thursday allegedly sought the blessings of famous deity Durga Devi or 'Gade Durgamma' to make him Deputy Chief Minister at the earliest by writing a letter to the deity.

Sriramulu was in Yadgir to take part in Kalyana Karnataka Utsav in Kalaburagi. The famous Gonal Durga Devi temple is situated in Shahapur taluk of Yadgir district which is 500 kms from Bengaluru.

Sriramulu is part of the Chief Minister's programme and several dignitaries have already landed in Kalaburagi to be part of Kalyana Karnataka Utsva, (a day celebrated to commemorate Hyderabad-Karnataka Liberation Day which was rechristened as Kalyana Karnataka Utasva from last year.) On this day the region was liberated from the rule of the Hyderabad Nizam.

Prior to going to Kalaburagi, Sriramulu landed in Yadgir and he first headed to temple in Gonal village in Shahapur taluk. He performed pooja, then he placed his letter on the deity's feet and sought blessings from her.

According to a source close to the minister, he wrote a letter which was signed by him containing two lines stating that he wanted to be Deputy Chief Minister at the earliest, and it must be fulfilled.

The source further added that Sriramulu before going to the temple visited the temple priest, Mariswamy's house and from there both went to the temple and performed the pooja.

According to the popular belief here, whoever goes to this temple and wishes something for him or her or their family, they do write a letter and place it on the feet of Durga Devi and seek her blessings to fulfil that wish.

So much so that incumbent Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee chief D.K. Shivakumar too had visited the temple when he was released from jail after being booked by the ED.

As a result of this, his followers believe that he was chosen to lead the party.

( With inputs from IANS )