Hyderabad: Endowments minister Konda Surekha on Tuesday held the police responsible for the Balkampet Yellamma temple officials’ failure to manage an unprecedented crowd that visited the temple to attend the celestial wedding of Goddess Renuka Devi. In the melee, transport minister Ponnam Prabhakar too tripped and sustained minor injuries.
Commenting on Prabhakar’s injury, Surekha blamed politically-motivated rioters and alleged that they had conspired to create a law and order problem. “There is a conspiracy behind the pushing that took place at the temple, during the Kalyanam at Balkampet Yellamma Pochamma temple,” she said.
The endowments minister held an emergency meeting with senior officials after reports emerged about the failure of crowd management at the temple, which led to a political drama involving Prabhakar, who accused temple officials of not extending proper protocol to him.
The minister, who visited the temple to attend the annual celestial wedding, which draws lakhs of people from both Telugu states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. A large crowd and scuffle at the temple tripped Prabhakar, who sustained minor injuries.
With the poor crowd management, other devotees also had a tough time on the day.
