Andhra Government Threatens Ordinance If Tirupati Devasthanam Board Chairman Doesn’t Resign

As Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) trust board Chairman Putta Sudhakar Yadav, a leader of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), refused to voluntarily resign from his post, an ugly scene erupted between officials including Executive Officer (EO) Anil Kumar Singhal and Joint Executive Officer (JEO) Sreenivasa Raju, reports The News Minute.

This was the first meeting of the TTD board after the Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP formed government in Andhra Pradesh. Some of the present members of the board were appointed by the TDP, the previous ruling party. As per the norm, fresh faces are to be picked by the ruling party. As per reports, the Andhra Pradesh government is contemplating bringing an ordinance to dissolve the temple trust boards.

The richest Hindu temple in the world is governed by the TTD trust, which consists of IAS officers, administrators and political appointees, who coordinate with the archakas (priests) to oversee the functioning of the temple.

The TTD expects an overall revenue of about Rs 3,116 crore, in the FY 2019-20, including Rs 1,231 crore from offerings and Rs 846 crore from interest on deposits in nationalized and private banks. The temple has over Rs 12,000 crore in fixed deposits in various banks, according to sources.

TTD is also believed to be earning about 100 kg of gold as annual interest, over its pure gold reserves of around 9,000 kg, across various banks.