YSR Congress Party leader and former Minister for Endowments Velampalli Srinivas criticised the Andhra Pradesh government for its failure to manage arrangements during the sale of Tirumala temple darshan tickets in Tirupati, which led to a stampede. At least six devotees lost their lives, and 29 others were injured in the stampede on the night of Wednesday, January 8.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the affairs of the famous Tirumala temple, had announced that special darshan tickets will be issued at 94 counters at nine places in Tirupati from 5 am on Thursday. However, a large number of devotees started gathering on Wednesday night, resulting in chaos.
Stating that the event was not held suddenly and was known in advance, Velampalli Srinivas held the state government accountable and said it was a case of negligence. He accused TTD Chairman BR Naidu of prioritising VIP services over devotees’ welfare and criticised the TTD Executive Officer for lack of awareness of the responsibilities. “Strict action should be taken against those responsible. The Chief Minister should focus on providing proper facilities to devotees instead of publicity stunts,” he added.
Former TTD Chairman and YSRCP leader Bhumana Karunakar Reddy also came down heavily on the TDP-BJP-JSP coalition government over the tragic stampede, attributing it to administrative failure. He said the TTD Board was turning into a political hub and that the ruling party compromised the sanctity of the temple.
Stating that such incidents did not occur in the past five years, he said there was a lack of coordination between officials. He accused the Tirupati SP of favouring TDP instead of focusing on the security of devotees.
Meanwhile, TTD Chairman BR Naidu said there was no conspiracy and that the stampede was an accident. He said he had asked the SP not to take things lightly. “There were rumours being spread on social media that devotees would not be allowed to go to Tirumala for darshan (for Vaikuntha Ekadasi). I condemned those rumours and clarified that anyone can visit Tirumala, but there will be tokens issued for darshan. I had a feeling that there would be trouble, so I told the authorities on Tuesday. The police said they would deploy 5,000 police personnel and handle things. It is unfortunate. We cannot blame anyone now,” he added.