Hyderabad: Wannabe poll contestants eye Balapur laddu bidding

Hyderabad: The famous Balapur Ganesh ladduBalapur Ganesh laddu auction will have political flavour this year with elections around the corner and contestants are likely to bid for the prized laddu which is believed to bring prosperity.

The Balapur laddu is a sacred prasadam which is put on auction by the Balapur Ganesh Utsav Samithi every year on the occasion of Ananta Chaturdashi, which also marks the end of the 10-day Ganeshotsav. The auction is taken up before the start of the mass immersion procession. This year will be the 30th year of the auction which is an integral part of the 10 days of Ganeshotsav in the city. The popularity of the laddu can be gauged by the fact that in the first year, it was sold for Rs 450, which went up to lakhs of rupees in several years. The 21 kgs laddu was auctioned for a record Rs 24.6 lakh in the year 2022. This year being the election year, the political party leaders may be keen to try their luck in the auction. During the year 2013, the BRS leader Teegala Krishna Reddy participated in the laddu auction and won it for Rs 9,26,000 and he went on to win the next elections from Maheshwaram Assembly constituency in which the Balapur Ganapati is located.

Similarly, in 2021, MLC Ramesh Yadav from Andhra Pradesh won the priced laddu by bidding the highest price of Rs 18.90 lakh. The Balapur Ganesh Utsav Samithi uses the auction money for the development of the village. The higher bidder, if he belongs to the village, can give the money by next year and if the bidder is from outside the village, the bidding amount should be given on the same day of the auction. During the year 2020, the auction was cancelled because of prevailing Covid pandemic restrictions. The Samithi runs a website explaining the laddu auction and how the money is spent on the development.

This year the auction will be taken up on September 28. BJP leader and one of the founder members Shankar Reddy said that this year there may be more individuals participating in the auction and they may be from political backgrounds, realtors, and others. He said that already six members have registered for the auction.