Union Minister for Railways, Trade and Industry Piyush Goyal said prayers at Lord Venkateswara Temple in Tirumala on Sunday.
Accompanied by his family members, the minister arrived at the temple entrance for a ceremonial reception by the additional law enforcement officer AV Dharma Reddy. The temple priests escorted him to the Holy of Holies with traditional honors. The experts later showered the minister with Vedic hymns (Vedasirvachanam) and presented him with “Srivari Tirtha Prasadam” and a laminated image of Sri Venkateswara.
Minister of State B. Rajendranath, newly elected Tirupati MP, M. Gurumoorthy, TTD Board Member and Government Whip Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy, and Deputy Executive Officer Harindranath were present.
The minister later prayed at the Sri Padmavathi Ammavari Temple in Tiruchanur, where he was shown in by TTD Joint Executive Officer Sada Bhargavi.
In the meantime, Mr. Gurumoorthy, accompanied by ZRUCC member PC Rayulu, represented Mr. Goyal on the need to accelerate the development of the sixth platform in Tirupati station, the extension of the southern entrance, the new train between Nellore and Chittoor via Tirupati, and reminded them the long-standing demand for the creation of a Balaji Railway Department based in Tirupati is back. He also appealed to the minister to start super-fast trains from Tirupati to New Delhi and Mumbai every day.