Andhra Pradesh: Opposition slams Reddy’s appointment as TTD chief

Hyderabad

The opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh on Monday criticised the appointment of senior YSR Congress party MLA from Tirupati Karunakar Reddy Bhumana as the new chairman of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, alleging that he had Christian leanings.

The Andhra Pradesh government issued orders on Saturday evening appointing Bhumana as the TTD chief, in place of Y V Subba Reddy, whose two-time tenure came to an end on Monday.

Bhumana, who had a darshan of Lord Venkateshwara on Tirumala hills, took part in the last meeting of the present TTD trust board chaired by Subba Reddy in the morning. He would take charge as the new TTD trust board chairman on August 10, officials familiar with the matter said.

This will be the second time that Bhumana, a two-time MLA from Tirupati, will be occupying the most coveted TTD chairmanship position. He was earlier appointed as the TTD chairman between 2006-2008 by the Congress party government headed by the then chief minister Dr YS Rajasekhar Reddy.

However, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) criticised the appointment of Bhumana as the TTD chief. “How can he be made the TTD chief though he did not have any faith in Hinduism? Everybody knows Bhumana has Christian connections,” TDP state secretary Buchi Ram Prasad said on Monday.

“We have all the evidence to prove that Bhumana has Christian connections. In the past, there was marriage at his residence, which took place completely as per Christian traditions,” Prasad added.

The TDP leader further said Bhumana had been a Naxalite activist before coming into politics and he had made blasphemous comments on Lord Venkateshwara in the past. “How can such a person be appointed to head the TTD, hurting the sentiments of Hindus?” he asked.

Even during the previous regime as the TTD chief, Bhumana had hurt the sentiments of the Hindus by declaring that Tirumala did not comprise seven hills but only five hills. “He had to backtrack after encountering protests from devotees and Hindu organisations,” he said.

Former chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh and Bharatiya Janata Party leader I Y R Krishna Rao, too, criticised the Jagan government for appointing Bhumana as the TTD chief.

In a statement on Monday, Rao, who had also worked as the TTD executive officer in the past, said it was unfortunate that the TTD trust board chief post had become a political appointment. “Only those who had immense faith in the Lord should be appointed as the TTD chairman,” he said.

The retired IAS officer said the government was behaving like nobody would question it even if it took controversial decisions on Hindu organisations. “The sooner the government keeps away from the control of Hindu religious institutions, the better for Hindu Dharma,” Rao said.

While Bhumana could not be reached for his comments on the allegations made by the opposition parties, senior YSRC leader from Rayalaseema G Srikanth Reddy said there was absolutely no controversy over the Tirupati MLA’s religious faith.

“People of his constituency know what he is and how his lifestyle is. The opposition is unnecessarily creating an issue out of a non-issue,” Reddy added.’