(Image: ANI)

Several social activists on Friday approached the Hyderabad High court over Chief Minister of Telangana K Chandrashekhar Rao’s planned iftar party. The move comes after the government decided to spend an amount of Rs 66 crore on the Iftar party. The event is scheduled to take place at Hyderabad’s Fateh Maidan today evening.

The activists said in a statement said that the Telangana government is politicising the issue. “Iftar is a personal affair of a Muslim and the government is politicising it. If the government wants to show that it cares about minorities and communal harmony, then all ration card holders who are Below Poverty Line (BPL) can be given dry fruits through Public Distribution System (PDS),” The News Minute cited the statement as saying.

The statement also said that such a squander of funds was shameful. “It is a shame that such a squander of funds and insensitivity to ‘minority welfare’ is being sanctioned through the Budget being passed by lawmakers of all political parties without any question on the need of Rs 60 crore being allocated for a feast,” the statement said.

Earlier this week, Deputy Chief Minister Mahmood Ali said that the state government had sanctioned Rs 15 crore to make the necessary arrangements. He also added that around 7,000 guests will be present at the event.

K Chandrashekhar Rao has been hosting iftar parties since 2015, spending crores of rupees.

On Wednesday, President Ram Nath Kovind had cancelled the celebration of Iftaar party at Rashtrapati Bhawan. In a statement, Kovind’s press secretary Ashok Malik said,”decided there would be no religious celebrations or observances in a public building such as Rashtrapati Bhavan on the taxpayer expense. This is in keeping with the principles of a secular state and applies to all religious occasions, irrespective of religion.”