The meeting of former Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam Chief Priest Dr AV Ramana Deekshithulu with Andhra Pradesh Leader of Opposition YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday has irked the ruling Telugu Desam Party.
TDP has slammed the priest for politicising a ‘non-issue’ and said his meeting with BJP President Amit Shah and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and the YSR Congress Party vindicates their point that both the BJP and YSRCP have colluded in a mudslinging campaign against them, using Deekshithulu as a pawn.
Speaking to TNM, TDP senior leader, Gorantla Butchaiah Chowdary said that Deekshithulu is unnecessarily politicising his suspension, and also alleged that the former chief priest is corrupt and had no moral authority to point fingers at others. “He is demanding for a CBI inquiry. If the CBI conducts the inquiry, he will be the first one to go to jail. He had violated several norms of the temple. By making baseless allegations against the temple, he also ruined the sanctity of the temple. Deekshithulu is campaigning to show TDP in a poor light, but people know the truth.”
Sharply reacting to Deekshithulu’s meet with Jagan, another party leader, Bonda Umamaheshwara Rao said, “This is part of a political conspiracy. Isn’t it evident that he is being influenced by the anti-TDP camp to bring disrepute to the TDP? Someone is behind his campaign. As we said earlier, he is being tasked to carry out a malicious campaign about corruption against the TDP,” he said.
In May, Deekshithulu was sacked by authorities on the grounds that he exceeded the retirement age limit. However, this unceremonious sacking came after he levelled shocking allegations against the TTD administration on financial irregularities, and also raised suspicion that several old ornaments from the temple were missing. He also claimed that the pink diamond which had been part of the platinum necklace of Lord Venkateshwara, had been stolen and smuggled to Geneva. Making these shocking allegations, Deekshithulu demanded for a CBI inquiry, and also pressed for bringing the TTD under the ambit of the RTI for transparency.
Notwithstanding his removal, he visited Delhi demanding a detailed inquiry into the incident. Throwing his weight behind Deekshitulu, BJP leader Subramanian Swamy condemned the removal of Deekshithulu from the temple as ‘grossly illegal’. He is also likely to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) to free Tirumala from the control of the state government.