Chandrababu Naidu Alleges Conspiracy By Centre To Take Over Tirupati; Invokes Lord Balaji To Target BJP

Ever since his party left the ruling coalition in March, the Andhra Pradesh (AP) Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has kept up his attacks on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). On Thursday (7 June), he accused the BJP-led union government of conspiring to take control over the Tirupati Tirumala temple. He made the allegation while addressing a meeting at Chittoor district, as reported by Hans.

Vowing that he won’t let the alleged conspiracy succeed, Naidu made a reference to how he survived an assassination attempt at Tirupati in 2003. He ascribed the escape to blessings of the presiding deity of the Tirumala temple.

Naidu also continued his attacks on the BJP stating that the latter betrayed Andhra Pradesh by denying the state the much discussed ‘Special Category Status’.

“The Central government has betrayed our state in the matter of Special Category Status. Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged SCS to Andhra Pradesh at the feet of Lord Balaji. I am a senior politician. As a Chief Minister, I went to Delhi and asked for special status and funds for state development. But they did not give it. Instead, they betrayed us," he said.

The Centre, however, has already rejected Naidu’s earlier allegations about any attempts to take over the Tirumala temple. The issue flared up when the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) sent a circular to the Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanam (TTD), the board that manages the Tirupati temple, seeking details about important monuments and heritage sites. The circular sought details to assess the feasibility of declaring the temple and other buildings as protected monuments.

The circular has since been withdrawn.

Tirupati temple was also in the news recently when a chief priest at the temple levelled allegations of corruption and mismanagement against the TTD. He even alleged that precious gems donated by royal families had been stolen from the temple. The TTD reacted by forcibly retiring the priest and denying the allegations.