Now, a temple has been constructed for the Congress President Sonia Gandhi in Karimnagar town.
Hailing her as the "Goddess of Telangana" who has fulfilled the long-cherished dream of the people of Telangana, the local leaders have built a temple as a thanks-giving gesture.
The make-shift temple has been completed under the aegis of the District Congress committee leaders of Karimnagar at Indira Chowk in the town, about 150 Kms from Hyderabad.
The Telangana supporters have set up a wooden Gopuram and a portrait of Sonia Gandhi inside a room-like structure which will be developed into a full fledged temple after the Telangana state is formed.
The local Congress MP Ponnam Prabhakar says he will donate one crore rupees for the temple after the Telangana state comes into being.
“We will build a permanent temple for Sonia Gandhi after Telangana is formed," Prabhakar said.
He said that Sonia was being seen by the people of Telangana as "Devatha" (Goddess) because she honored the Telangana sentiments and granted statehood for the region.
The Telangana congress leaders, led by Prabhakar, said that they would offer daily prayers and rituals at the temple named as ' Telangana Devatha Pavitra Mandiram".
Temples for political leaders is not a new phenomenon in Andhra Pradesh. There are some temples for even film stars and heroines.
In Rajahmundry town, there is a temple for Indira Gandhi built by the local Godman Ramalinga Sidhanti.
In Krishna district, there is a temple for NTR and similarly there is temple for Chiranjeevi in West Godavari, a temple for Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy in Kadapa, and also there was a small temple built for yesteryear heroine Jayaprada which was removed after she migrated to Uttar Pradesh.
