Sankranthi, the biggest festival season in Coast Andhra Pradesh is knocking at the door and villages are gearing up to celebrate the harvest festival. People have already starting taking all possible transport to reach their native places. As usually, the roosters are out for the traditional ‘Kodi Pandhalu’ (cock Fights). Even though they are deemed as illegal, it is an open secret that they can not stopped in this festive season.
cockfights involving specially-trained roosters fitted with metal gaffs will begin a day before the Bhogi festival and will go on for three days of the festival. Bets are expected to be placed in the range of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 50 lakh. It is estimated that at least 1000 Crore will be at stake for this season on the roosters.
Usually politicians and supporters from different political parties are involved in organizing these duels and therefore there will no much political ruckus. In fact, there are leaders across the parties demanding the legalization of the cockfights as it has been a tradition in rural areas during Sankranti for centuries.
