Former Congress MP to lead SC delegation to Tiruchanoor temple on October 13

Former Union Minister and Congress MP Chinta Mohan will lead a delegation of Scheduled Caste (SC) devotees into the Tiruchanoor temple in Tirupati to celebrate the anniversary of the temple entry movement on October 13.

Mr. Mohan, who previously represented the Tirupati Lok Sabha constituency, cited reports in The Hindu documenting the historic legal defence by Congress leader C. Rajagopalachari (Rajaji). Rajaji appeared before Tirupati Court Judge V. Ramaswami Iyer in 1925 to secure the acquittal of C. Murugesan, an SC devotee who had been arrested for entering the inner sanctum of the Sri Padmavathi Ammavari temple in Tiruchanoor.

Thanking The Hindu for its extensive coverage of the case, Mr. Chinta Mohan said the legal arguments put forward by Rajaji led to the acquittal. “This resulted in Mahatma Gandhi later leading a group of 33 Dalit devotees into the Tiruchanoor temple,” he said.