Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu consoling a pilgrim injured in the stampede and undergoing treatment at SVIMS hospital in Tirupati on January 9, 2025.

Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu offers to facilitate ‘Vaikunta Dwara Darshan’ to those injured in Tirupati stampede

Accompanied by Ministers and officials, he calls on the injured at SVIMS hospital and gives a patient hearing of their version of the incident; he also visits a token centre and asks officials to explain the sequence of events that led to the tragedy

by · The Hindu

The pilgrims injured in the stampede and undergoing treatment at SVIMS hospital have some good news — they will be provided the much-cherished ‘Vaikunta Dwara Darshan’ in Tirumala once they recover and are in a position to walk.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu spent nearly 90 minutes at the hospital, along with Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav and SVIMS Director R.V. Kumar, on January 9, 2025 (Thursday), giving a patient hearing to the devotees’ version of the stampede.

When the devotees sobbed on failing to get the ‘Vaikunta Ekadasi’ token in spite of reaching Tirupati from far off places, Mr. Naidu struck the right chord by assuring them darshan.

“I am impressed by your determination to make it to Tirumala. The moment you recover and are able to walk, we will arrange darshan through the Vaikunta Dwaram,” Mr. Naidu told them.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu inspecting the stampede area at Bairagipatteda in Tirupati on January 9, 2025.

Mr. Naidu visited the Rama Naidu Municipal Corporation High School at Bairagipatteda, where the makeshift token centre was set up for the purpose of issuing tokens for the first three days of the 10-day ‘Vaikunta Dwara Darshan’.

Accompanied by Ministers V. Anita (Home), A. Ramanarayana Reddy (Endowments), A. Satya Prasad (Revenue), N. Rama Naidu (Water Resources), and K. Parthasarathi (I&PR), TTD Chairman B.R. Naidu, Executive Officer J. Syamala Rao, Collector S. Venkateswar, and TTD Joint Executive Officer M. Gouthami, among others, Mr. Naidu walked around the centre and through the barricaded queuelines, asking the officials to narrate the sequence of events that led to the stampede.

The Chief Minister expressed his displeasure over the manner in which the devotees were allowed into the centre in spite of its limited holding capacity, and the prolonged waiting time (from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday dawn). He also sought to know why they could not use technology to the maximum extent.

Published - January 09, 2025 08:05 pm IST