Hectic lobbying is on for the coveted post of chairman of the board of trustees of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam. The one-year tenure of the present TTD trust board headed by Congress MP Kanumuri Bapiraju and members Mutyam Reddy, Routhu Suryaprakash Rao, Pamula Rajeshwari Devi (all MLAs) besides three other officials ends on August 25. The Kiran Kumar Reddy government appointed Mr Bapiraju and his team last year. Previous TTD Boards had a tenure of two years, but the present board was given only one year by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy. Sources in the government said that Mr Bapiraju is using all his clout in Hyderabad and New Delhi for extension of the term by another year citing precedence of the previous board which held a two-year term.
The principal secretary to the government, revenue (endowments) Ms Chitra Ramachandran moved the file pertaining to reconstitution of TTD Board recently. With just four days to go before Mr Bapiraju’s tenure ends, he held his last board meeting on Monday at Tirupati. Bigwigs like Adikeshavulu Naidu, Congress MP and ex-chairman, TTD, and Rayapati Sambasiva Rao have thrown in their hat for the post. Sources said T. Subbarami Reddy, is lobbying for Indira Subbarami Reddy as chairman of the board of trustees.
Unlike other major temple boards which are decided by the state government, the TTD board is constituted with the approval of the ruling Congress High Command in view of its importance all over the country and abroad. Most of the time the post of the chairman and members of TTD goes to political heavyweights. In exercise of the powers conferred under sub-section (1) of section 96 of AP Charitable and Hindu Religious Institutions and Endowments Act of 1987 (act 30 of 1987), the Governor of AP appoints the chairman and members of the Board of Trustees of TTD.