Tollywood star and the head of Jana Sena party Pawan Kalyan, sat on a hunger strike under the “Dharma Parirakshana Dheeksha” (penance to protect Hindu Dharma) with thousands of his party cadres and members from the BJP to protest against the burning of Lakshmi Narasimha temple chariot in Andhra Pradesh.
Demanding stringent action against the perpetrators responsible of setting the chariot on fire, Pawan Kalyan took Dheeksha at his house in the morning.
He said that attack on Hindu temples has risen under the YSRCP Jagan Mohan Reddy government and demanded for a retired judge to be appointed to investigate the temple chariot burning. He added that he will approach the Centre and call for a CBI probe if the state government fails to take action.
Former BJP Andhra Pradesh President Kanna Lakshminarayana too joined Pawan Kalyan’s protest at his Guntur home. He also levelled allegations against the Jagan Mohan Reddy government and said that similar incidents have happened in the past. “Had the government acted then, such incidents would not have occurred”, he said.
Former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Chandra Babu Naidu too expressed dismay at the incident calling it a ‘heinous attack by anti-social elements’ and demanded a safety audit for properties belonging to Hindu temples.
The six decade old temple chariot belonging to the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Temple, one of the revered Vaishnavite temple was gutted on Sunday. The temple is located in the East Godavari district. Hindu activists protested against the government for not ensuring safety of the temples. Many of them were arrested and sent to judicial remand.
Following the widespread outrage, the State government has ordered a CBI probe in the Antarvedi Chariot burning incident. A letter has been sent by the state DGP to the Union Home Ministry seeking a CBI probe.
Pawan Kalyan welcomed the CBI probe and called for the expansion of CBI probe in other similar incidents like destruction of Pithapuram idols, burning of Kondabitragunta chariot.