VIJAYAWADA: KS Sreenivasa Raju was on Monday transferred from the post of Joint Executive Officer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), and directed to report to the General Administration Department (GAD). He was replaced by P Basant Kumar, a 2007-batch IAS officer. Sreenivasa Raju, a 2001-batch IAS officer, who held the position for more than eight years, wielded political clout during the previous TDP regime.
Though the one-month-old YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government effected a major reshuffle of IAS officers in June, Sreenivasa Raju was left untouched amidst reports that he would be the first among the bureaucrats to be moved as he is considered close to the powers that be in the previous government.
A government order issued on Monday stated Basant Kumar, Metropolitan Commissioner in the Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority, would assume the charge of TTD JEO with immediate effect. His services were later withdrawn from the Municipal Administration and Urban Development Department and placed at the disposal of Revenue (Endowments) Department for new posting.
Sreenivasa Raju’s eight-year-long tenure was mired in several controversies. It was alleged that he could hold on to the post for such a long period because he wielded a lot of political clout. It was said that he worked independently and did not maintain a good rapport with the TTD executive officers and Trust Board chairpersons.It is even said that the government took time to transfer him as it wanted to first appoint the TTD Trust Board chairman before making any changes in the temple administration.