india

Updated: Jun 24, 2018 12:44 IST

Madhya Pradesh minister of state for woman and child development Lalita Yadav allegedly married off two frogs as part of an elaborate ritual held at a temple in Chhattarpur on Friday to appease the rain gods, raising quite a few eyebrows.

The minister along with other local BJP leaders had organised an ‘Ashad Utsav’, and during this programme a priest in the presence of Yadav solemnised the marriage of frogs, which was followed by a grand feast. Hundreds had gathered at the venue to see this unique marriage.

Temple priest Acharya Brijnandan said, “The frogs’ marriage and feast is a very old tradition to please the god.” He is among those who believe that there will be good monsoon this year due to the ceremony.

The opposition Congress is not convinced and has strongly criticised her act, saying that it will only promote superstition, more so because it is being encouraged by a minister of the state government.

Senior Congress leader from Chhattarpur Alok Chaturvedi said that instead of providing drinking water in the area Yadav was busy in organising such rituals.

“It’s an attempt to divert people’s attention in the name of religion and old tradition. It would have been better if she had used this time and energy to solve people’s problems. I, through my own means, supply around 50-100 water tankers in various parts of Chhattarpur city every day,” Chaturvedi said.

Minister Lalita Yadav at the Ashad Utsav during which two frogs (bottom right corner) were married. ( HT Photo )

Yadav defended herself, saying, “It is not superstition but a logical tradition which is necessary to balance the environment which is made up of five elements. The drought is a result of disturbance in the environment. As environment is not happy with Bundelkhand, we are trying to please the god to make the balance in the environment. In old days, our forefathers used to organise religious rituals at temple to please the god.”

Chhattarpur, the constituency that the minister represents falls in the Bundelkhand region, has been in the grip of severe drought for the past two years, forcing thousands of people to migrate during summer due to water scarcity.

In the last decade, the Bundelkhand region, comprising six districts – Sagar, Chhattarpur, Damoh, Tikamgarh, Panna and Datia – had witnessed poor rainfall.

Last year, the area received below average rainfall, affecting the sowing of Rabi crops.