New TTD trustees board announced; inclusion of certain individuals sparks controversy
TIRUPATI: The state government on Friday announced the names of 24 new trustees of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Board, stirring up controversy due to the inclusion of certain members. The announcement was made by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).
Of the 24 trustees, three are YSRC MLAs — Samineni Udayabhanu (Jaggayyapet), Ponnada Venkata Satish Kumar (Mummidivaram) and M. Tippe Swamy (Madakasira) —while the rest hail from the state, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharshtra and other parts of the country.
Notable among those appointed from AP were Gadiraju Venkata Subbaraju (Unguturu), Meka Seshu Babu (Palakollu), Nerusu Naga Satyam Yadav (Eluru), Siddha Veera Venkata Sudhir Kumar (Prakasam) (son of ex-minister Siddha Raghav Rao), Siddavatam Yanadaiah and Masima Babu (Kadapa), Seetharami Reddy Ellareddy (Mantralayam), Chande Aswartha Nayak (Anantapur).
From Tamil Nadu, the trustees are Dr S. Shankar and Krishnamurthy Vaidyanathan and from Karnagaka, R.V. Deshpande. From Telangana, the government has picked Gaddam Seeta Ranjith Reddy, wife of BRS MP Ranjith Reddy, and Penaka Sarath Chandra Reddy of the Aurobindo Pharma group.
Saurabh Bora, Amol Kale and Milind Savarkar were selected from Maharashtra. Among others appointed as TTD board members were Ram Reddy Samula, Dr Kethan Desai (former Medical Council of India chief), Balasubramanian Palanisami, S.R. Vishwanath Reddy and Sudarshan Venu.
Penaka Sarath Chandra Reddy's inclusion has drawn attention due to the alleged association with the Delhi liquor scam case. Similarly, attention was focused on Dr Desai's alleged history of corruption as MCI chief.
Critics, including AP Sadhu Parishad president Srinivasananda Saraswati Swamy, have expressed dismay at the appointment of individuals with questionable backgrounds to prominent positions on the TTD board. The criticism extended to concerns about the qualifications and suitability of some new members to uphold the spiritual sanctity and financial transparency.
