Media entrepreneur and philanthropist Bollineni Rajagopal Naidu has been appointed as the new Chairman of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Board, which manages the affairs of the world’s richest Hindu temple.
BR Naidu, owner of Telugu news channel TV5, will be the 54th chairman of the TTD Board. The TDP-led coalition government has appointed 24 members to the TTD Board. Ten persons from three neighbouring states have been included in the Board. Five of the members are from Telangana, three from Karnataka and two from Tamil Nadu. Adit Desai from Gujarat has also been appointed as a member.
Three MLAs from Andhra Pradesh have been made TTD Board members. They are Jyotula Nehru, Vemireddy Prashant Reddy and MS Raju.
Former minister Pannabaka Lakshmi and Bharat Biotech co-founder and Managing Director Suchitra Ella also figure in the list of members.
BR Naidu succeeds Bhumana Karunakar Reddy as the chairman. He thanked the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government for giving him the opportunity.
He said since he was born and brought up in Tirupati, he knows everything thoroughly. He thanked Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan and HRD Minister Nare Lokesh.
Karunakar Reddy, then Tirupati MLA of YSR Congress Party, had taken oath as TTD chairman in August 2023. He had earlier held this position from 2006 to 2008.
Since the TTD Board chairman and members are appointed by the party in power, the previous body was automatically dissolved with the YSR Congress Party losing power to the Telugu Desam Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
The new body’s appointment came close on the heels of the row over the alleged adulteration of ghee used for making Laddu prasadam of Tirumala temple.
On September 18, Chief Minister Naidu claimed that ghee adulterated with animal fat was used to make laddu prasadam when the YSR Congress Party was in power. This triggered an outrage among devotees across the country.
Following the allegations, the TTD conducted purification rituals at the temple premises. YSR Congress Party, however, dismissed the allegation and accused Naidu of tarnishing the sanctity of the temple.
The state government on September 25 constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of police to probe the allegations. The Supreme Court ordered a CBI-monitored probe into the allegations.