Palasa, October 2: YSR Congress Party leaders strongly condemned the Kashi Bugga temple stampede that claimed nine lives and injured several devotees, calling it a direct consequence of the coalition government’s negligence. After visiting the injured at Palasa Government Hospital, Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Botcha Satyanarayana, former ministers Kurasala Kannababu and Dr. Seediri Appalaraju, along with senior YSRCP leaders, enquired about the victims’ condition and assured support.
Speaking to the media, they said the tragedy highlights the complete collapse of governance and public safety under Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. “This is the third major temple tragedy in 18 months , after Tirumala and Simhachalam. Even after repeated deaths, the government has no preventive plan, no crowd-control mechanism, and no accountability,” they said.
They criticised the CM and ministers for trying to escape responsibility by terming it a private temple. “Supreme Court rules are clear, a temple open to public darshan is a public temple. Calling it private to wash hands off responsibility is heartless, irresponsible, and proof of governance failure,” they said. The leaders noted that while the government deploys heavy security for film events, shop inaugurations, and to target officers and opposition leaders, it failed to provide basic crowd control for thousands of poor devotees who came for darshan.
Recollecting similar incidents, the leaders pointed out that eight devotees died in Tirumala earlier this year and seven in Simhachalam, making this the third tragedy under this regime. “Chandrababu Naidu did the same during the 2015 Pushkarams, where 29 people died due to his publicity mania. Today, again, devotees are dying due to his government’s apathy,” they said.
They slammed Chandrababu’s statement that temple authorities did not inform the government, calling it irresponsible when temple organisers confirmed prior intimation to police. “Is this a government or a spectator regime? A CM cannot wash his hands like this,” they asserted.
They demanded a judicial inquiry by a sitting judge, strict accountability on officials, and a statewide permanent temple crowd-management protocol to ensure such tragedies never recur. “Devotees cannot pay with their lives for an incompetent and insensitive government,” they said, expressing condolences to bereaved families and wishing speedy recovery to the injured.
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