Rajahmundry: The practice of tying doves to Diwali rockets and then firing them into the air exists in villages like Biccavole, Komarapalli and Vetlapalem in Godavari districts but had gradually died down.
Mr Baig is a past master at this he had done it when he assumed charge as district president in January 2015 at Eluru.
He said, “I have been doing this for 40 years. In fact, Russians even awarded a gold medal in 1964 when I presented the feat before them. We involve experts to prepare the paper cones and release them into the air with doves. The doves are trained. It takes nearly a week and we use homing pigeons which will return to their homes soon.”
He said the doves had been brought from Eluru. “I challenge anyone to show that the doves suffered burns or perished in the explosion. We take all precautions to ensure the safety of the doves from the fire that comes from the explosion. We use limited quantity of explosive material to ensure low-intensity explosion.”
He saw the protests against the cruel practice as a grand plan against the Congress. “As the Congress is gaining in popularity by fighting against the Centre and the state governments, some people are trying to tarnish the image of Congress and the PCC chief for witnessing the event. It is not a new practice for us and we wanted to present some novel demonstration before the PCC chief to welcome him.”
Kovvur DSP, N. Venkateswara Rao said, “We have not booked any case as no complaint has been lodged on the issue so far.”
