HYDERABAD — Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy issued a stern directive to officials on Saturday, insisting that temples and their sacred precincts must never be utilized as platforms for politics, moments before finalizing a Rs 100 crore master plan for the Gnana Saraswati Temple in Basar.

The Chief Minister, speaking with the deadpan gravity of a man who has inaugurated three major temple expansion projects totaling over Rs 750 crore in the last four months, noted that the sanctity of the divine must remain unpolluted by the reach of partisan interests. He emphasized that the temple, which attracts devotees from three states, should remain a site of pure worship, rather than a place where leaders seek to gain public favor or visibility.

"Officials must ensure measures to curb such activities," the Chief Minister said, as aides distributed press releases detailing the government’s commitment to building a Rs 200 crore 'Young India' residential school adjacent to the site. "A temple is for the soul, not for the ballot box."

According to records, the administration’s non-political spiritual agenda currently includes a Rs 351 crore expansion at Bhadrachalam, a Rs 300 crore infrastructure blitz at Medaram, and the current Rs 100 crore package for Basar—all of which are being monitored by a cabinet sub-committee to ensure the Godavari Pushkaralu in 2027 is a strictly historical, and in no way electoral, success.

Sources within the Endowments Department confirmed that the 'anti-politics' measures will include strict monitoring of unauthorized banners, though they clarified that the 15-foot hoardings featuring the Chief Minister’s face alongside the temple’s new master plan are classified as 'Departmental Progress Notifications' rather than campaign materials.

"We are strictly following Vastu principles to ensure the administration of the temple remains holy," said one official, speaking on condition of anonymity while reviewing a guest list of four ministers and six MLAs scheduled for the upcoming foundation stone ceremony. "By spending Rs 100 crore on natural stone masonry and queue management, we are making it physically impossible for any politician to stand in a queue and talk to a voter. There simply won't be any queues left to talk in."

The Chief Minister concluded the meeting by directing the Technical Engineering Committee to immediately identify locations for holy dips along the Godavari, noting that the government's ability to provide high-quality water for 2 crore devotees is a matter of administrative duty that should, under no circumstances, be remembered by those 2 crore people during the next voting cycle.