Laddu ‘fixing’ mars auction

The auction of the popular Balapur Ganesh laddu held in Balapur village of Ranga Reddy district on Wednesday was marred by allegations of “laddu-fixing”.

Though the auction fetched a record `5.35 lakh for the 21-kg laddu — `25,000 more than the successful bid amount last year — Ms G. Saritha, a city-based realtor, alleged that the laddu was given to the second-highest bidder. She said that she had bid `3.5 lakh and was willing to go even higher.

Mr Kodali Sreedhar, a resident of Miyapur and native of Bodhan in Niamabad district, was declared the winner of the auction by Balapur Ganesh Utsav Samithi President Mr K. Niranjan Reddy. “It’s a dream-come-true for me. For the past 20 years, it had been my dream to bid and win this auspicious laddu. I am happy and pray to Lord Vinayaka that he blesses us all with health, wealth and success,” said Mr Sreedhar, who heads a private travel agency.

Ms Saritha contested the decision of the organisers to announce Mr Sreedhar as the winner. “I bid `5.5 lakh and was willing to bid higher. But I was shocked that the auctioneers announced the name of one Mr Kodali Sreedhar as the winner for `5.35 lakh. They did it deliberately though I was bidding right there at the spot. It is clear that the Balapur Ganesh Utsav Samithi had finalised the name of the winner of the auspicious laddu even before the auction began,” she complained.