Thiruvananthapuram: UDF candidate for Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat Shashi Tharoor has demanded a probe into the accident in which he suffered injuries while being weighed in a balance as part of a ritual at the Gandhari Amman Temple in the state capital.
“I have never heard of the bar of the weighing balance collapsing before. It is better to conduct a probe to make everything clear. Even my 86-year-old mother feels so,” said Tharoor.
Tharoor received injuries on his head and legs after the weighing balance broke after he sat on one of its pans and the hook got unhinged and fell on his head.
The popular 'thulabharam' ritual involves weighing oneself against materials that are used in the temple for the purpose customarily. It signifies offering oneself to the Lord.
The Congress candidate was discharged from Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital on Tuesday and is scheduled to take part in an election meeting later in the day in which party president Rahul Gandhi would attend.
Meanwhile, the police have recorded the statement of the temple staff over the incident. District Congress Committee chief Neyyattinkara Sanal had filed a complaint with the Thampanoor police suspecting foul play behind the mishap.
Tharoor had reached Gandhari Amman Temple at Thampanoor by 11 am on Monday after praying at Sree Krishna Temple, Peroorkada. While seated on one platform of the balance as part of a ritual (Thulabhaaram), the metal hook above had come off and fell on Tharoor’s head.
According to temple secretary R P Nair, party workers had loaded excess sugar on the other platform ignoring instructions. Moreover, some workers pulled on the chain of the balance, he said. Meanwhile, someone had removed a stool that had been kept to support the weight, Nair alleged.
“All this led to a heavy load falling on the hook, which got twisted and the balance broke,” explained the temple official.
The former Union minister and sitting MP is engaged in a close contest with both BJP and CPM candidates in the constituency which goes to the polls on April 23 along with other 19 constituencies in Kerala.
