Chennai, Sep 12 (IANS): Tamil Nadu BJP president Nainar Nagenthran has urged the Vijay government to provide free electricity to Vinayaka Chaturthi pandals across the state, alleging that high charges for temporary power connections have placed an additional financial burden on festival organisers and devotees.
In a post on X, Nagenthran referred to the celebrated Tamil poet Avvaiyar’s devotional hymn to Lord Vinayaka, in which she offers milk, honey, lentils and rice in return for the blessing of the three forms of Tamil.
He said Lord Vinayaka was a supreme deity deeply intertwined with the Tamil language, literature and culture.
Nagenthran said devotees were preparing to celebrate Vinayaka Chaturthi with enthusiasm and religious fervour. However, he alleged that the Tamil Nadu government’s policies had raised serious concerns that the festival was being indirectly discouraged in the State.
According to him, festival organisers and members of the public have complained that the authorities are imposing substantial charges under the commercial tariff category for providing temporary electricity connections to Vinayaka Chaturthi pandals.
He said organisers were reportedly required to pay Rs 3,800 for installing a temporary electricity meter, apart from a security deposit of Rs 4,000.
In addition, expenses relating to electrical wiring, illumination of Vinayaka idols and other associated works could take the total cost to around Rs 15,000 for each pandal. Such expenses would make it difficult for small community groups and local residents to organise the celebrations, particularly in neighbourhoods where the festival is conducted using donations collected from devotees, he said.
Drawing a comparison with neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, Nagenthran claimed that the government there was encouraging devotees by supplying free electricity for Vinayaka Chaturthi celebrations without imposing restrictive conditions.
In contrast, he alleged that the approach adopted in Tamil Nadu had created an impression among the public that the government was attempting to curtail the religious and worship rights of Hindus.
Nagenthran called upon Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay’s government to immediately discontinue the commercial tariff system for temporary connections given to festival pandals.
He also requested the government to issue necessary directions to the electricity authorities to provide free power to all Vinayaka Chaturthi pandals without imposing additional conditions, enabling devotees across Tamil Nadu to celebrate the festival without financial hardship.
