Tirupati Stampede: YSRCP dismisses Judicial Commission report on Tirupati Temple Stampede, demands CBI inquiry

The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) has strongly opposed the Judicial Commission report on the Vaikuntha Ekadashi stampede in Tirupati demanding a CBI inquiry. The party has alleged that the report is biased and aims to save senior officials and make lower level employees a sacrifice. Addressing the media, former TTD president and senior YSRCP leader Bhumana Karunakar Reddy said that the report accepted by the state cabinet, two officials, Harinath Reddy and Raman Kumar, incorrectly blames the incident and recommends criminal action against them. Six people lost their lives in this incident and at least 29 people were injured.

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Describing the report as predetermined, Karunakar Reddy alleged that it has targeted selected persons, while those who were really responsible, including TTD, Revenue and Police Department officials. He said that the entire process seems to be a case study for a pretense and all future investigations. We completely reject this Judicial Commission report, presented in a pre-planned and selected manner. He also criticized the coalition government for cancellation of the extended philosophy system launched by the previous YSRCP government during Vaikuntha Ekadashi. He claimed that the extended philosophy system implemented after consulting religious heads helped control the crowd for ten days, while the current system has allegedly failed to handle the crowd of devotees.

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Karunakar Reddy questioned the decisions behind the management of the stay places and pointed to the discrepancies. He said that Harinath Reddy was suspended, while another officer at the ticket counter, Suryaprakash was released.