MEDARAM (BHUPALPALLY DISTRICT): Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh escaped a possible injury, when a coconut thrown by a devotee had just missed his head while he was offering prayers to tribal goddesses Sammaka-Saralamma at the main shrine in Medaram on Thursday.It all happened when Raman Singh, after performing tulabharam, went to offer prayers at the main shrine. When he was reaching the deity, suddenly a coconut thrown by a devotee towards the goddess passed very close to his head. It is a practice at jatara that devotees throw coconuts at the main shrine. However, Raman Singh was wearing a coalmen’s helmet, hence there was less chance of him getting injured.
Meanwhile, local BJP leaders criticised the government for not stopping the devotees from throwing coconuts while Raman Singh was having darshan. They claimed that despite Raman Singh being covered under Z plus category, he was not given proper protection.
However, deputy Chief Minister Kadiyam Srihari ruled out any kind of security lapse and accused BJP leaders of unnecessarily making it an issue. “From Telangana government’s side there was no lapse. Raman Singh deviated from the actual schedule and hence there was some confusion. We do not think he had any kind of complaint. He refused to take lunch offered by us as he had some prior appointment,” he explained. Chief Minister KCR will visit the jatara on Friday and offer prayers.