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YSRCP leaders condemned the TDP and police for allegedly "obstructing" them while they were proceeding to offer a new sacred Naanthaadu (Mangalsutram) to Goddess Bhramaramba at the Pedakakani temple, stating that political vendetta had now been brought even into a place of worship, a release said.
It added that the Goddess's Mangalsutram went "missing" around 20 days ago, "but the government and Endowments Department failed to respond effectively". Ponnur YSRCP coordinator Ambati Murali Krishna subsequently announced that a new Naanthaadu worth Rs 18 lakh would be prepared with contributions from devotees and offered to the Goddess. YSRCP said the government then hurriedly suspended five priests and named priest Randhir in the theft case, while his family maintained that he had been falsely implicated, it said. On Friday, YSRCP leaders proceeding from MP Ayodhya Rami Reddy's residence were allegedly "blocked" by TDP workers despite prior police permission. Former MLA Malladi Vishnu's vehicle was "surrounded", and an attack was attempted, while police restricted entry to 20 people and manhandled YSRCP leader Varikuti Ashok Babu, including "pulling him by his hair," the release said. YSRCP leaders charged that the disruption took place allegedly at the instance of MLA Dhulipalla Narendra, as per the release.Despite the confrontation, YSRCP leaders eventually entered the temple and offered the Naanthaadu to Goddess Bhramaramba. "They questioned why political permission should be required to offer jewellery to a deity and charged that the coalition was playing politics with devotees' sentiments," the release said. YSRCP strongly condemned the subsequent "act of washing the area with turmeric water in the name of purification" after its leaders left the temple, calling it another "display of political vindictiveness" inside a sacred shrine, the release said. (ANI)
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