Tirupati MLA Bhumana Karunakar Reddy has been appointed as the new chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Board, in place of former MP YV Subba Reddy. With the tenure of the current board set to end on August 8, a government order was issued announcing Karunakar’s appointment on Saturday, August 5. The order reportedly said that a new set of member trustees will also be appointed soon. The post of TTD chairman is a powerful one, as the individual is responsible for the wealth of the trust of the richest Hindu temple in the world — as of last year, TTD’s assets were worth over Rs 2.5 lakh crore. The position also entails connections with influential politicians, businesspersons and godmen.
This is Karunakar’s second stint as TTD chairman, having previously served in the same post from 2006 to 2008, when YS Rajasekhara Reddy was Chief Minister. The chairperson heads the 20-member TTD board. Among the TTD’s past chairpersons are former MP DK Adikesavulu Naidu, a liquor baron; another former MP T Subbarami Reddy, an industrialist; and former MLA Chadalavada Krishnamurthy, who owns a chain of educational institutions.
Outgoing chairman YV Subba Reddy is a former Lok Sabha MP and a senior leader of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP). He is also Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy’s uncle by marriage. A senior YSRCP leader, he was appointed to the coveted post of TTD chairman in June 2019, soon after the YSRCP came to power. The party loyalist and former Ongole MP was denied a Lok Sabha seat in the 2019 general election, and the Ongole seat was instead offered to Balineni Sreenivasa Reddy – also a relative of Jagan, who is married to Subba Reddy’s wife’s sister.
Subba Reddy’s term was initially mired in controversy largely due to misinformation that he was a Christian and not a Hindu, thus calling his appointment into question. On many occasions since Jagan became Chief Minister, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other right-wing groups have tried to spread misinformation and baseless claims to support the narrative that the Tirumala temple — one of the most popular Hindu temples in the world — was falling under the influence of Christian groups, since CM Jagan is of the Christian faith.