TTD Board Chairman BR Naidu, who had earlier refused to apologize towards the Tirupati stampede, in which six devotees were killed, changed within an hour and extended apology after deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan wildly reacted.
B R Naidu was earlier rejected to honor the demand put forward by Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan to say apology for the stampede incident in Tirupati. After an emergency trust board meeting, held on Friday on the directions of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, responding to Pawan Kalyan’s demand for apology, he made it clear there is no need to extend an apology.
Though there is no wrong in saying an apology, Naidu asked did they survive just by apologizing? He said that there was no need to respond to such a demand just because someone said something. He reminded that the Chief Minister had already announced a judicial inquiry into the incident and action will be taken on the basis of the report.
But, Pawan Kalyan who was touring in his Pithapuram constituency, reacted wildly towards BR Naidu’s adamant attitude. He hit back and asked “when I apologized as Deputy CM, you TTD Chairman BR Naidu, EO and AEO should also apologize”. He deplored that the attitude of some officials did not changed even after seven months of change in the government and following in the footsteps of the previous repressive regime.
It seems Deputy Chief Minister’s anger forced BR Naidu to change his attitude and within one hour, he extended his apology and said that he would ensure that incidents like the stampede do not happen in the future. However, he admits that minor mistakes had been made and that they had come to his attention, and made it clear that there was no point in ignoring anyone in relation to the incident.
Pawan Kalyan said that the lives lost will not be saved by apologizing, but the people will feel respected with the apology you seek. He said that when four lakh people come to the Garuda festival and it was successfully organized, he deplored that it was an unfortunate incident due to the negligence of the officials in a place where only 2500 people are present.
Meanwhile, BR Naidu said that cheques have been prepared for the families of the deceased and they will be handed over to their homes on Saturday personally. He said that the TTD has decided to provide a compensation of Rs. 25 lakhs to the families of the six people who died in the stampede.
He said that a decision has been taken to provide a compensation of Rs. 5 lakhs to the two devotees who were seriously injured and Rs. 2 lakhs to the 31 devotees who were slightly injured. The compensation to the families of the deceased in the Tirupati incident and the process of issuing Vaikuntha Dwara Darshan tokens were reviewed.
The TTD board also took key decisions on the darshan policies. Speaking at a media conference held after the meeting, BR Naidu revealed that one of the family members of the deceased will be given a contract job.
