Tirumala: Politicians who won the recently concluded elections added to the summer rush at the holy abode of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala on Sunday. Important leaders who offered prayers include former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, Nellore MP Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy of YSR Congress, Nagari YSRC MLA R.K. Roja, Chandragiri MLA Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy, TD MLA Dhulipala Narendra. All politicians turned up along with their family members. Meanwhile, the pilgrims swelled over the weekend. Temple sources said about 45,665 devotees offered prayers from 3 am to 6 pm on Sunday.
Thousands of devotees are still waiting in the Vaikuntam Q complex for darshan.
While the waiting time for devotees opting for the 'Sarva darshan' mode has been put at 24 hours, for those trekking up the hills and opting to have darshan through the 'Divya darshan' mode has been put at a 10 hr long wait. Meanwhile, TTD has stopped issuing Rs.300 special entry tickets to the devotees with the quota for the day getting exhausted by the afternoon itself. The crowd is expected to continue till Tuesday according to the temple sources.
