Loan Melas were going on all across the country with a huge response from the poor and so did the protests. I was in Mehboob Nagar in Andhra Pradesh to attend a Mela. The 'Go back Poojary' protest was organized there also by opposition political Party. I reached the spot and I was about to start a dialogue with the protesters. Suddenly, someone from the crowd stabbed me in my stomach. Before I could realise what was happening, blood started oozing out from my stomach. Superintendent of Police and Deputy Commissioner, who were there to organise the Mela, came running and advised me to rush to the hospital. I flatly refused. "No question of me going to the hospital. I don't care if I die here, but I want to give loan to the people. I want to see people getting loan," I said. It was only after I disbursed loan to a few beneficiaries, I went to the hospital for treatment.

Soon protests against Loan Melas from opposition political parties spread to every nook and corner of the country. Protests reached the Parliament too. "Poojary is destroying the economy of the Nation," MPs alleged. They attacked me even when I was replying to their concerns in Lok Sabha. It was Indira Gandhi who came to my rescue.

Standing on her feet, she thumped the table and said; "Yes, we will give loans to the poor, to the working class, to the women and to the unemployed youth. We will give and we will continue to give. This country doesn't belong to any one Class or Section of society. Poojary is doing a great job and you should be appreciating his honesty and commitment. Instead, you are pointing fingers at him. Who will give Surety to the poor? I myself stand guarantee for the loans taken by the poor,"' she silenced the Opposition Party members.