HYDERABAD: Health Minister Etela Rajender has set tongues wagging within his party, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
Recently, Rajender wrote to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, requesting him to appoint a person from Telangana as a special invitee in the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).
As TTD is usually considered an inter-state affair, Rajender, by writing a letter to the chief minister of a neighbouring State, is now in the middle of a controversy.
In a demi-official (DO) letter dated June 6, a copy of which has gone viral on WhatsApp, Rajender asked Jagan Mohan Reddy to nominate Dontha Ramesh, a Huzurabad native, to the TTD Board as a special invitee as a ‘special case’.
“I have known this individual (Ramesh) for a long time. He has been contributing towards the welfare of pilgrims of our State for the last 18 years, with a zeal to help. He of kind nature, and is very hard working. His rich experience in serving pilgrims will help the TTD Board,” Rajender told Jagan Mohan Reddy in the letter.
Sources said Ramesh was with the Congress until recently. It is also not clear if Rajender had the prior permission of TRS chief and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for writing this letter.