Proposal to auction Tirumala temple property sparks row

HYDERABAD: A proposal of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, which manages India’s richest temple of Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh, to auction as many as 50 immovable properties has triggered protests from opposition parties and Hindu groups.

On Monday, the TTD clarified that no final decision had been taken yet in this regard. “It was just a proposal which would be discussed at the next trust board meeting. after taking into consideration the suggestions from all quarters,” TTD trust board chairman YV Subba Reddy told reporters. He said the decision to auction 50 “unviable” properties was taken by the erstwhile trust board in January 2016.

On April 30, the TTD listed out as many as 23 properties situated in various parts of Tamil Nadu including Vellore, Kacheepuram and Thiruvalluvar districts, for auctioning, with the total upset price (base price) of these properties being Rs 2 crore.

The properties proposed for auction include houses, house sites, vacant lands and agriculture land. The TTD chairman said properties donated by devotees to the hill shrine several decades ago were non-maintainable and non- revenue generating for the TTD. There are another 26 properties in Andhra Pradesh and land in Rishikesh.

The decision triggered criticism . Bharatiya Janata Party Andhra Pradesh uniut president Kanna Lakshminarayana demanded the temple withdraw the proposal as it would hurt the sentiments of Hindus.

Jana Sena party president Pawan Kalyan lashed out at the temple board for the decision. Temples protection movement convenor CS Rangarajan appealed to the government to form a Dharmika Parishad to govern the assets of temples. He expressed the fears that the TTD’S decision would set a precedent for all the temples for selling away the properties donated by devotees.