In the name of the Lord: Change in Andhra govt muddles Tirumala temple board

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams ( TTD ) Board, which manages the richest temple in Tirumala dedicated to the Hindu God Lord Venkateshwara, along with a number of other temples in Tirupati, was embroiled in an unwanted controversy in today's Board meeting held in Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh.

TTD's Executive Officer Anil Kumar Singhal, IAS, an ex-officio member from the Andhra Pradesh government along with his deputy Srinivas Raju, Joint Executive Officer ( JEO ) in Tirumala, walked out of the Board's meeting as soon as it was convened.

According to Putta Sudhakar Yadav, Chairman of the TTD Board, neither officer gave any reason for their walkout from the meeting, "As it was decided earlier, the meeting today was mandatory. However, after we all gathered and the prayers got over, both the officers just walked out. We don't know why they did so.''

On the other hand, both A.K.Singhal and Srinivas Raju did not disclose why they walked out. But according to sources close to them, the officers felt slighted when they were questioned by some members as to why their recommendation letters for the Lord's Darshan were not considered. 

The entire issue is a classic example of rumblings when regimes change. The present Board was appointed on April 28, 2018, by the outgoing Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu. Appointments to the TTD board are more or less political. There's considerable lobbying to get a post as a member of the cash-rich TTD Board. But it is the Chief Minister who takes the call.

Now that the regime is changing, there is an unwritten rule that is understood - all such nominated posts have to be vacated and the new Chief Minister will take a call on the new members.

However, TTD Chairman Putta Sudhakar Yadav, close confidante of outgoing Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu refuses to resign, "Let the new government tell me, then I will decide my future course of action. We have taken pledge and oath in front of the Lord to serve him.''

Meanwhile, popular film director K Raghavendra Rao, who is the Chairman of the Sri Venkateshwara Bhakti Channel (SVBC) which telecasts entire programmes of the TTD resigned. He, too, is considered to be very close to Chandrababu Naidu.

Interestingly, the new Chief Minister elect Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy is coming to Tirupati tomorrow and the day after he will take a darshan of the Lord Venkateshwara. Once he takes oath as the new Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on May 30 in Vijayawada, there will be sweeping changes across.