Tirumala: Nightmare for ordinary folk at Tirumala

• On Vaikunta Ekadasi, TTD serves ‘VIPs,’ leaves others in lurch
• Darshan arranged for VIPs from 1.45 am to 7 am on Saturday
• Devotees wait in serpentine queues, face untold hardships
• Some protest in front of Bapiraju’s office, get thrown out
• Twelve State and a Central Minister among VIPs
• But none cared to help mitigate sufferings of devotees

Tirumala: Vaikunta Ekadasi is considered one of the most auspicious days for having darshan of Lord Venkateswara here. Ordinary people from across the country visit the temple town a day before to wait in long queues to get a glimpse of the god, oblivious of hardships in the process. However, for VIPs, thanks to generous service by the TTD, lord’s darshan occurs in a very easy manner. The woes of common folk get compounded when the TTD top brass goes out of its way to please the powers-that-be.

For Saturday’s Vaikunta Ekadasi at Tirumala, TTD issued as many as 7,952 VIP passes and arranged their darshan right from 1.45 am to 7 am, thus putting untold hardships to the pilgrims – thousands of them with old people and children – who had to wait in queues. And what queues the ordinary devotees jostled with each other in! Temporary queues were also a chock-a-bloc up to over 2 km from the queue complex and several waited in the open.

While the TTD officials zealously “served VIPs,” lord’s ordinary devotees were left to fend for themselves. Lack of toilets, milk for children and food for adults – you name it, they faced it. Most of the entire State Cabinet was at Tirumala, and none of them cared to redress grievances of ordinary devotees. Among the VIPs were twelve State ministers, one Union Minister, several judges of the Supreme Court and AP High Court, besides many legislators and Congress leaders. TTD Executive Officer M G Gopal and JEO Srinivasa Raju claimed that the temple netted a revenue of Rs.79.52 lakh. For the benefit of those who could not enter the temple, the TTD organised a procession of the Lord along with His consorts Sridevi and Bhudevi on a golden chariot around the Four Mada Streets. Angry devotees from West Godavari district vexed with the neglect by TTD officials staged a dharna before the office of TTD Chairman Kanumuri Bapiraju. They alleged that his office functioning reminded them of a king’s rule. They were not allowed to enter the office by police.

They alleged that tokens or passes were given only to VIPs and that they were made to undertake repeated trips to the chairman’s office. On information, Tirumala DSP Nanjundappa reached the spot and after holding discussions with officials ordered that the devotees be driven away. The office staff brutally pushed them out, without showing any consideration for women. Devotees raised slogans resenting the police “highhandedness and inhuman tactics.” Those from Bapiraju’s constituency and his followers who managed to secure recommendation letters for the ‘darshan’, also failed to get preferred treatment.