Idols at Kuppam temple vandalised, TDP supremo Chandrababu Naidu condemns

Vijayawada:Telugu Desam party National President and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday condemned the destruction of idols of Hindu deities in a temple located in his home constituency Kuppam in Chittoor district and expressed concern over the continuing attacks and demolitions at the temples in Andhra Pradesh.

Mr. Naidu held the Jagan Mohan Reddy headed Government's complacency responsible for the unabated demolitions of idols at the Hindu places of worship.” It was unfortunate that the miscreants attacked and demolished idols at the Srivalli Devasena Sametha Subrahmanyeswara Swamy Temple, located atop Betagutta near Gonuguru village in Kuppam mandal.

In a statement here, the TDP chief said that the negligence of the Government was making the miscreants bold enough to carry out more and more attacks on the temples. “The Kuppam incident has come as a big shock not only to the people of the Chittoor district but the entire State as a whole”, he deplored.

Mr. Chandrababu Naidu said that if the Jagan Reddy regime had taken strong steps to nab the perpetrators of the temple attacks in the past, this incident would not have been repeated now. The ruling party leaders had no respect for the sentiments of the devotees of any religion.

The former Chief Minister deplored that the Government was behaving atrociously by trying to take political advantage out of the temple attacks and demolitions. There were no conscientious efforts on the part of the Chief Minister or his Ministers to prevent the attacks on religious places.

Mr. Naidu demanded the Chief Minister to order an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) if he had any commitment to the devotees and the general public.

It is to be noted that many cases of vandalism in temples have been reported in the state in the past 2-3 months. In january, Idol of Sita devi was found destroyed in Sitarama temple located at Pandit Nehru bus complex.The priest of the temple found the idol of goddess Sita devi was found vandalized and complained this to the police.

Recently A symposium on “Protection and practice of Sanatana dharma & its challenges” was organised by the Hindu Acharya Sabha and Save Temple Bharat.Andhra Pradesh, Minister for Endowments Vellampalli Srinivasa Rao said that so far 300 persons had been arrested in connection with the attacks on temples.

Later Chinna Jeeyar Swamy, an Indian ascetic known for his spiritual discourses, announced that he would embark a statewide tour to infuse confidence and courage among Hindus in the wake of series of attacks on Hindu temples and destruction of idols in the state.(UNI)