TTD Board New Chairman, Members Take Oath

 Tirupati: Industrialist and media baron Bollineni Rajagopala Naidu on Wednesday assumed office as the 54th chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust Board. TTD executive officer (EO) J. Syamala Rao administered the oath of office and secrecy at the Tirumala Temple in the presence of Lord Venkateswara.

As per the temple customs, Rajagopala Naidu first sought the blessings of Sri Bhu Varaha Swamy and then prayed at the main sanctum along with his family. Vedic pundits rendered Veda Aseervachanam on the new chairman at the Ranganayakula Mandapam, followed by distribution of Theertha Prasadams.

Apart from Rajagopala Naidu, newly inducted members of the TTD Trust Board also took oath of office administered by TTD additional EO Ch. Venkaiah Chowdary. The new members assuming office include state endowments secretary Satyanarayana, Vemireddy Prasanthi Reddy, Janga Krishnamurthy, M. Rajasekhar Goud, J. Sambasiva Rao, M.S. Raju, Narsi Reddy, B. Mahender Reddy, A. Ranga Sri, B. Anand Sai, Janaki Devi Thammisetty, R.N. Darshan, M. Shantaram, S. Naresh Kumar, Dr. Adit Desai and P. Ramamurthy.

The board’s composition reflects a diverse representation, with the new members hailing from Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and other states. A key highlight is the appointment of former chief justice of India H.L. Dattu. His inclusion is being viewed as an effort to enhance the board's credibility and stature.

Several members have been reinducted into the new trust board, including Krishnamurthy Vaidyanathan, Vemireddy Prashanti Reddy and Janga Krishnamurthy. Suchitra Ella of Bharat Biotech International and Saurabh Bora, a long-standing board member from Maharashtra.

Chennai-based Krishnamurthy Vaidyanathan, who has close ties with union home minister Amit Shah, has been the board member for five consecutive terms since 2015.

The current 29-member TTD board is in contrast with the board appointed by the YSRC regime in 2021. At that time, the number of board members had been 81, including 29 members and 52 special invitees.

The controversial move faced opposition and the matter went to the court. It led to a judicial order halting the practice of appointing special invitees.