TIRUPATI/VIJAYAWADA: The State government’s decision to appoint Bhumana Karunakar Reddy as the chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Board was met with severe criticism as leaders of various Opposition parties questioned the appointment of an atheist and a non-Hindu to the post.
Days after taking charge as the chairman of the Srivari Board for the second time, the Tirupati MLA brushed aside claims of being an atheist and a Christian.Enumerating the work he had done during his previous tenure, the TTD chief asserted that he will not be deterred by the allegations and continue to do the good work without fear.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event in the temple town, Bhumana said he was the one who performed 30,000 mass weddings to stop religious conversions.“When I served as the TTD chief 17 years ago, I initiated several steps to preserve the sanctity of Tirumala and Hindu religion. I had taken the decision to restrict devotees from wearing footwear in the four Mada streets,” he recalled.
Further, he said, “Besides celebrating the 600th birth anniversary of Hindu saint Annamacharya, the Srivari Trust performed Lord Venkateswara Swamy Kalyanams in Dalit wadas (hamlets) during my regime.”
The ruling YSRC’s decision to appoint Aurobindo Pharma director Penaka Sarath Chandra, an accused in the Delhi liquor scam who later turned approver, as a member of the TTD Board also drew severe backlash from Opposition parties.
Unconvinced by Bhumana’s clarification, the BJP announced to launch a three-day campaign on August 28 in protest against the government for appointing “people of other faiths and tainted persons” to the Board that governs the richest Hindu temple in the world.
The BJP said it will take up a signature campaign at all temples in the State from August 28-30 under the banner ‘Our temple-Our right’, starting Monday. This will be the first major campaign that the saffron party will undertake against the YSRC government after former minister Daggubati Purandeswari took charge as the president of the BJP State unit.