Haryana govt spent Rs 3.80 lakh on purchase of 10 Gita books

The Haryana government last month spent a whopping Rs 3.80 lakh on purchase 10 books of the Hindu mythological scripture Gita.

The purchase of books at this phenomenal price would be a record of sorts.

The BJP government in Haryana led by RSS ideologue and chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar is now finding it hard to come up with a rational justification for this high-price purchase. The expenditure on the books is a part of the money spent by the government during the international Gita Mohatsav last month.

Not just on the books, the government also paid Rs 6 lakh to a magician for a show in Kurukshetra and purchased jute bags worth Rs 1 lakh. The issue is courting controversy with the opposition Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) seeking a probe. The details are a part of information procured under the RTI act.

Lok Dal MP Dushyant Chautala in a tweet raised eyebrows on the expenditure made during the event. Highlighting the amount, Chautala tweeted, "Gita ke naam par chori (loot in the name of Gita)."

According to the RTI document, the state government paid Rs 15 lakh to BJP MP Hema Malini for a performance during the event.

Bhagavad Gita Jayanti Samaroh was held in Kurukshetra to commemorate the birth of 'Srimad Bhagwad Gita', the sacred scripture containing advice of Lord Krishna to Arjuna on the first day of the 18-day Mahabharata battle.

The celebrated event was organised even during the Congress rule, but it was given an international stature after Khattar took over reigns of the state and expenditure on the event has since then increased manifold.