MULUGU: An irritated mob attacked the Tribal Welfare Minister Adluri Laxman Kumar's vehicles on the way to his hotel stay in the tiny village of Medaram.
Youths and pilgrims expressed anger over the heavy VIP rush for the darshan of the Sammakka–Saralamma deities on Thursday night, questioning the presence of the minister’s convoys.
A traffic jam lead to the attack on the minister's convoy. Sensing the situation, Minister Adluri Laxman Kumar stepped out of his vehicle and, accompanied by security personnel, walked to his destination.
As tribal priests were being installed on the platform, lakhs of pilgrims suddenly rushed towards the gates for darshan. The prolonged closure of queue lines and entry points for hours severely agitated pilgrims, leading to arguments with police and security personnel that continued till Friday morning.
On the auspicious day of Friday, an unexpected crowd from the three states of Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh expressed anger over the thronging of VIPs and their loyalists. They raised objections to the police attitude; they were not giving priority to the common duties, and the police were only keen on the VIP's protocol persons.