VIJAYAWADA: TDP MP Kesineni Srinivas (Nani) on Thursday alleged Endowments Minister Vellampalli Srinivas Rao’s role behind the irregularities unearthed at Kanaka Durga temple, and demanded that the minister be expelled from the State Cabinet.
Addressing mediapersons during campaigning for municipal elections in Vijayawada on Thursday, Kesineni Nani questioned CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to explain how could a multi-crore scam take place at the Kanaka Durga temple without the knowledge of the minister concerned and temple EO MV Suresh Babu.
“The multi-crore scam was unearthed by the CID and ACB, and the minister claiming innocence is not acceptable. There should be a CBI probe into the scam and action should be taken against Vellampalli Srinivas and the EO, who was brought illegally by the minister,” he said.
The ACB sleuths, who conducted the raids for three consecutive days at Sri Durga Malleswara Swamy Varla Devasthanams, which manages the Kanaka Durga temple atop Indrakeeladri from February 18, unearthed large-scale irregularities.
Irregularities were found in sale of darshan tickets, sale of sarees donated to the Goddess, godown, prasadam sales, security and other issues. It was also found that the EO has violated the directions of the Endowments Commissioner and awarded tenders to a security agency unauthorisedly.
Further, donations given for annadanam to the tune of `50.3 lakh were misappropriated. The Endowments Department has sacked 15 employees immediately following the disclosure by the ACB.