Dahi handi becomes a multi-crore festival, thanks to politicians

Politicians of all hues in Maharashtra are vying with each other to announce huge prize money for breaking the `dahi handis' here on the occasion of Gokulashtami, one of the most popular festivals of the city.

Some of the biggest and most talked-about `dahi handis' (curd pots tied at a height to be broken by competing youngsters) are organised by politicians, who are widely seen as taking mileage out of the festival.

This year, NCP MLA Jitendra Avhad's 'Sangharsh' dahi handi in adjoining Thane is the biggest handi in terms of prize money. The `Govinda' group (young men who form a human pyramid to reach the pot) that breaks the handi will take home a whopping Rs75 lakh.

MNS legislator Ram Kadam-sponsored handi will fetch the winner Rs31-lakh prize, said to be the highest in Mumbai. 

Sankalp Pratisthan, headed by Housing Minister and NCP leader Sachin Ahir, has hiked its prize money to Rs25 lakh from Rs15 lakh earlier. Shiv Sena legislator Pratap Sarnaik is offering Rs65 lakh to the winner.

Minority welfare minister Naseem Khan's mandal has announced Rs7,77,777 for breaking the handi at Ghatkapor in central suburb.
     
Govinda mandals need to form nine or ten-tier pyramids to break most of the pots and walk away with the prizes. Apart from the big ones there are hundreds of other smaller `dahi handis' which are organised across the metropolis.