Diwakar provoked his men to attack ashram, alleges Swamy

Anantapur: The stand-off between Prabhodananda Swamy and TDP MP JC Diwakar Reddy continues with the Swamy accusing the MP of provoking his followers to attack the ashram after he failed to extort money from them.

The Swamy said that in 2003, the MP had sought money from them when the ashram invited him for inauguration of Krishna Mandir. "When we did not budge, he developed a grudge against us. Since then, he has been sending his followers and people of nearby villages to attack us," the Swamy said.

The Swamy maintained that no immoral or anti-social activities were going on in the ashram and that the ashram was not after publicity. The visitors to our ashram include IAS officers and other officials. ``If any immoral activity is taking place, why should they visit us? the Swamy asked.

"We were hounded out from the ashram in 1993 for sheltering BJP activists. They came to us and sought food and we gave it to them. We are in no way involved in politics," he said.

In the wake of the tussle between the Ashramites and the men of Diwakar Reddy, a three-member official committee visited the ashram and inquired with people of Chinapolamada village. The committee sought to know from them if the location of the ashram was in any way causing any disturbance to them.