On 1 August 2026, when TVK Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Vinoth Vijay placed the Agriculture Budget documents before the deity at the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati, CPI(M) MP Su Venkatesan questioned the practice of taking official budget papers to a place of worship.
After offering prayers at the temple, Vinoth Vijay told reporters that he had visited Tirupati to seek the blessings of Lord Venkateswara ahead of the presentation of the Agriculture Budget.
Taking objection to the minister’s gesture, Su Venkatesan wrote on X, “Budget documents are neither offerings to the Divine nor spiritual artifacts; they are constitutional documents outlining how the people’s tax money is to be spent. Treating political documents as offerings for individual religious beliefs is unconstitutional.”
பட்ஜெட் ஆவணங்கள் என்பது இறைவனுக்கான காணிக்கையோ, அல்லது ஆன்மீகப் பொருட்களோ அல்ல; அவை மக்களின் வரிப்பணம் எப்படிச் செலவிடப்படும் என்பதைக் கூறும்
அரசியல் சாசன ஆவணம்.தனிமனிதர்களின் மத நம்பிக்கைக்கு அரசியல் ஆவணங்களை காணிக்கையாக்குவது அரசியல்சட்ட விரோதம்.@vinothravi11 pic.twitter.com/iTVZsuFT7J
— Su Venkatesan MP (@SuVe4Madurai) August 1, 2026
However, Venkatesan’s criticism has raised questions over his apparent silence when a TVK Finance Minister displayed a similar religious gesture while presenting the state government’s first Budget for 2026–27.
While arriving to present the Budget, Finance Minister Marie Wilson was seen carrying a prayer rosary along with the official Budget documents. After taking his place to deliver the Budget speech, he also made the sign of the cross before beginning her address.
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Venkatesan did not appear to raise a similar objection to Wilson’s use of a religious symbol while carrying the Budget documents or to him making the sign of the cross before presenting the Budget.
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