The Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday appointed BR Naidu as the chairman of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the board responsible for the affairs of the Tirumala temple in Tirupati, along with 23 members. This comes amid a huge controversy over the use of animal fat in Tirupati laddus.
BR Naidu is the founder of Telugu TV channel, TV5. His appointment is seen as an important step to bring in a leader with a strong track record in the community and managerial skills to manage the affairs of TTD, which has been without a governing body for a long time.
The new board of trusts, announced by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, includes a variety of members to ensure full representation. The board includes several MLAs from Andhra Pradesh. Prominent members include Jyotula Nehru (Jaggampeta MLA), Vemireddy Prashanthi Reddy (Kovuru MLA) and MS Raju (Madakasira MLA).
Other members include Panabaka Lakshmi, former Union Minister, former Chief Justice of India Justice HL Dattu and Bharat Biotech Managing Director Suchitra Ella.
After his nomination, BR Naidu thanked Chandrababu Naidu, his deputy and actor-politician Pawan Kalyan in a tweet.
“I thank the Andhra Pradesh Government for appointing me as the Chairman of the trust board of Tirumala and Tirupati Devasthanas. My heartfelt thanks to Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Konidela Pawan Kalyan and State Education Minister Nara Lokesh,” he wrote in Telugu.
Here is the complete list of TTD’s 24 board members:
BR Naidu (Chairman), Prashanthi Reddy, MS Raju, Jyothula Nehru, Panabaka Lakshmi, Sambasiva Rao, Narsi Reddy, Sadashiva Rao Nannapaneni, Mallela Rajasekhar Goud, Suchitra Ella, Krishna Murthy, Janga Krishnamurthy, Koteshwar Shagaram, Nasai Kumar, Saurabh H Bora , Darshan RN, Justice HL Dattu, P Ramoorthy, Adit Desai, Boongunuru Mahender Reddy, Janaki Devi Tammishetty and Anugolu Rangasri.
TRAVEL COMES BETWEEN TIRUPATI LADDU ROW
The appointment of the new TTD board comes close on the heels of a row over the alleged use of animal fat in the preparation of the famous Tirupati laddus.
On September 18, Chandrababu Naidu said that ghee mixed with animal fat was used to prepare Tirupati laddus which are given as prasad to devotees, where the previous YSR Congress regime was in power, and a huge row started.
The YSR Congress rejected the claims and accused the Chief Minister of defiling the sanctity of the temple.
The state government has set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the claims. But, the Supreme Court stayed the SIT investigation and ordered a CBI-appointed probe to probe the matter.
The apex court also criticized Chandrababu Naidu for going public with allegations without any concrete evidence.
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