Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], Oct 3 (ANI): The Election Commission of India (ECI) has denied permission to the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) government for the distribution of sarees on the occasion of the upcoming Bhathukamma Festival.

The ECI has rejected TRS's saree distribution plan, keeping in view the upcoming assembly elections in the state.

The Telangana government run by the TRS had started this policy of distributing sarees on Bhathukamma Festival last year when they had distributed more than one crore sarees to women free of cost.

Bhathukamma Festival is expected to be celebrated at a grand scale in Telangana on October 17, and the government was planning to distribute the sarees in the festival. For this the caretaker state government had sought permission from the ECI. But with elections in sight in the state, the ECI has not given permission to the government for distribution of sarees on the festival.

Dr. Rajat Kumar, CEO, Telangana informed media on Wednesday that ECI in its response said that permission cannot be not given for distribution of sarees for Bhathukamma Festival. (ANI)

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