VIJAYAWADA: In a fallout of Telugu Desam Party’s loss in the State Assembly elections, the 15-member Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanam (SDMS) Trust Board Committee led by senior TDP leader Yalamanchili Gouranga Babu resigned on Saturday, a month before completion of their tenure.
The resignations were forwarded to principal secretary (endowments) Manmohan Singh, endowments commissioner M Padma and executive officer V Koteswaramma for approval.
Even though a month’s time is left for the completion of the committee’s tenure, Gouranga Babu convened a meeting with board members and tendered their resignations following TDP’s defeat in the elections.
The State government had appointed the 15-member trust board committee in July, 2017 with Gouranga Babu as its chairman after facing severe heat from the right-wing groups.
Over the past two years, the committee was mired in several controversies including alleged conduct of tantric pooja inside the temple and missing of a silk saree donated by a devotee, in broad daylight.
Taking a serious note of the incidents, outgoing Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had expressed ire against the trust board committee members and even warned of scrapping the board if occurrence of such incidents were repeated.
However, even after the polls, the trust board members were confident of TDP’s victory and hoped for extension of their term. However, the TDP’s loss has forced the trust board members to quit from their posts.
In a press release issued here on Saturday, Gouranga Babu said: “I had convened a meeting with the board members before tendering our resignations. During our tenure, we had taken several initiatives for the convenience of the devotees thronging Indrakeeladri. Our achievements include revamping the ghat road, renovation and expansion of Lord Mallikarjuna Swamy temple and provision of consolidated pay, HRA and DA for Non-Muster Roll (NMR) employees in various departments who had served in the temple for more than 10 years.’’