Hyderabad: In an unexpected act that is now drawing public ire, Siddipet collector P Venkatarami Reddy on Sunday touched chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s feet at an official event at Siddipet district headquarters.
The incident took place after KCR inaugurated the newly-constructed collectorate at Duddeda after the MLA camp office and commissionerate were inaugurated. As a matter of ritual, KCR made the collector sit in his chamber.
Soon after that, Venkatarami Reddy along with his wife and son touched KCR’s feet and sought his blessings, shocking chief secretary M Somesh Kumar and other senior officials who were present.
This gesture drew sharp criticism from various quarters that the collector mortgaged the self-respect of IAS cadre officers at the feet of the chief minister. Netizens tagged IAS Association to condemn Reddy’s gesture.
Responding to the stark criticism, Reddy took to clarify that he only took blessings from KCR, whom he considers a fatherly figure, on the occasion of Father’s Day. He said it wasn’t right to make a big deal out of it.
“Taking blessings of elders during functions is nothing new. As a man who wished for the formation of Telangana and implementing the schemes of the chief minister I felt like taking his blessings on Fathers’ Day. Do not make unnecessary issue out of this,” Reddy said in a statement.
KCR on Sunday kick-started his district tours from Siddipet and inaugurated the MLA’s camp office, police commissionerate complex and integrated district collectorate complex in the headquarters. He was accompanied by finance minister T Harish Rao, home minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali, R&B minister Vemula Prasanth Reddy, chief secretary Somesh Kumar, DGP M Mahendar Reddy and other officials.
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