The Balapur Ganesh laddu fetched Rs. 5.35 lakh this time in the auction conducted by Balapur Ganesh Utsava Committee on Wednesday morning.
According to Auction Committee Chairman Niranjan Reddy, the 21 kg Balapur laddu fetched Rs. 5.35 lakhs against Rs. 5.10 lakhs last year.
This year, the coveted laddu went to Kodali Sridhar from Miyapur.
The laddu is presumed to bring prosperity to the successful bidder. It is a practice by the Samithi to spend the auction amount on welfare and developmental activities in Balapur village.
However, a new controversy over the auctioning of laddu surfaced when the winner of last year's auction and second highest bidder this year, Saritha from Vanasthalipuram, alleged that the Committee ignored her higher bid of Rs. 5.5 lakh and instead declared Sridhar the winner of the auction.
The Committee, meanwhile, said that though Saritha indeed was the highest bidder, she was unable to pay the money on the spot, and hence Sridhar was declared the winner.
Niranjan Reddy stated that the decision to declare Sridhar the winner was taken as the Ganesh Immersion procession is scheduled to start after the auctioning of the laddu, and waiting for Saritha to arrange the money would have meant delaying the procession.