Hyderabad: Few official posts or political nominations in the Telugu states command the respect and sense of privilege as being a member of board for the holy temple of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD).
From the Prime Minister to Chief Ministers of different states, besides other important politicians, therefore, recommend names for consideration for post of member, TTD, to the Andhra Pradesh government.
This year, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has recommended two names, while Union home minister and BJP national president Amit Shah has recommended one name for consideration for TTD member posts.
The Telangana chief minister has recommended name of G.V. Bhaskar Rao, chairman of Kaveri Seeds, and Moramsetti Ramulu, TRS leader from Siddipet, to AP Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for appointment as TTD board members. The Union home minister has recommended the name of V. Krishna Murthy, who was appointed as TTD member by the previous TD government regime also on the recommendation of Mr Shah.
Mr Murthy is an Indian civil servant from Tamil Nadu, and enjoys the sobriquet, ‘father of public sector undertakings’ in India. Mr Shah asked Mr Reddy to reappoint Mr Krishna Murthy into the TTD board.
The AP government is likely to issue orders constituting the TTD board in a day or two. Former MP Y.V. Subba Reddy was appointed as the TTD chairman a month ago but the board was not constituted.
According to sources close to Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy, N. Srinivasan, managing director, India Cements, from Tamil Nadu is likely to be made a member. Mr Reddy has also decided to offer two members for the TTD board to other states, with both Karnataka and Maharashtra getting one member each.
Meanwhile, the AP Chief Minister has decided to nominate YSRC leaders including Velagapalli Varaprasada Rao, MLA, Gudur, who formerly represented the Tirupati Lok Sabha constituency, Uppalapati Venkata Ramanamurthy Raju (‘Kannababu’), MLA, Yelamanchili and Dwarampudi Chandrasekhar Reddy, MLA, Kakinada, as members to the TTD board.
In addition to the two names recommended by the Telangana Chief Minister, Mr Reddy may also appoint K. Sivakumar, secretary of Telangana unit of the YSR Congress. It is of interest that Mr Sivakumar had registered the YSR Congress, which was later acquired by Mr Reddy.
Ms Vemuri Prashanthi Reddy, wife of YSRC MP Vemuri Prabhakar Reddy, would also be appointed as a TTD member. The state government can appoint a total of 18 people as members of the TTD board, including officials.
