TIRUPATI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded an immediate CID investigation and an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India into corruption and irregularities in works undertaken by engineering department of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) over the past five years.
Speaking to reporters here on Sunday, BJP leader P. Naveen Kumar Reddy alleged that e-files and documents of the department are being deleted following a change in government at the state level and the expected transition within TTD’s trust board and administration.
He accused the existing TTD board and officials of deceiving God Sri Venkateswara Swamy Himself. In particular, he charged TTD executive officer (EO) A.V. Dharma Reddy with giving in to YSRC government-appointed trust board's whims, approving projects and releasing funds without involving the chief accounts officer.
"Once CID interrogates the EO, chief accounts officer, chief engineer and trust board members, the truth will come out," Naveen Kumar Reddy remarked.
To substantiate his charges against the TTD officials and board members, he cited release of Rs 600 crore for demolishing and reconstructing the Govinda Raja Swamy Choultries on D.R. Mahal Road in Tirupati, approval of Rs 1,500 crore for the TTD engineering department when its usual annual allocation used to be Rs 150 crore, and Rs 200 crore sanctioned for renovation and maintenance of SVIMS Hospital.
The BJP leader vowed to write to the new government, seeking an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) into the TTD’s finances. He pointed out that over the last five years, tenders had been awarded to certain contractors at exorbitant rates, so that commissions could be pocketed.
