Tirupati: Urging for stringent steps to curb the malpractices in Tirumala Tirupati Devast-hanams (TTD), that manages the abode of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala, the leaders of BJP, comprising Telan-gana BJP president Dr. K. Laxman and other prominent party leaders on Tuesday met the Governor of the two Telugu states E.S.L Narasimhan at the Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad and submitted a representation regarding the alleged irregularities in TTD.
The BJP leaders of the two Telugu states quoted in the representation that the most important place for Hindus all over the world, the Tirumala temple, has now become a source for fraudulent people, middlemen and brokers to mint money.
It was stated in the representation that, according to reliable sources, some officials working in Andhra Pradesh Chief Minster’s office, in collusion with the staff working with the joint executive officer in Tirumala, were involved in corruption, with the help of some brokers, and were selling darshan tickets outside for huge money against the rules.
The representation also carried an instant case of such malpractices by quoting that on September 27, 2018, the TTD JEO and in-charge CV&SO conducted a scrutiny of list-1, list-2 and list-3 VIP break darshan tickets and identified that the mediators and the persons who came with recommendation letters, have been claiming themselves that it was given by CM’s office, MLAs, MPs, ministers and TTD board members, and had purchased the said tickets in black, by paying hefty prices.
The BJP leaders alleged in the representation that it was revealed that the said darshan tickets were sold at prices ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000, and surprisingly Abhishekam tickets were sold at Rs 2 lakhs.
Even though the TTD Vigilance Department had identified the brokers and the persons involved in the whole episode and prepared a report, it did not see light due to pressure from the higher ups in the department and politicians.
The BJP leaders pointed out in the representation that, the whole act of malpractice was completely spoiling the sanctity and faith of millions of devotees, and they urged the Governor to revamp the system and appoint honest people at crucial places in TTD.
BJP MP Bandaru Dattatreya, Ex State president G. Kishan Reddy, Former DGP V. Dinesh Reddy, Retired IAS official Dasari Srinivas, Former RTI Commissioner Vijaya Babu and other leaders were present.
