Battle rages on

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a TTD official said that in a meeting held on June 5, the trust board had resolved to file a defamation case against the retired head priest after consulting its legal advisers.

Deekshitulu, however, defended his meeting with Jagan, stating that he was willing to meet anybody in his struggle for “justice”. “I met the YSR Congress chief only to explain the injustice done to me. What’s wrong in meeting him? I will meet anybody who extends support to my struggle for justice. He assured me that he would do justice to me once he comes to power,” Deekshitulu said.

The retired priest said he also tried meeting chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, but he did not get an appointment. “I abide by my charges and I am ready for any kind of enquiry,” he said.

Ever since he was forced to retire after TTD enforced a 65-year retirement age for all priests in the Tirumala temple, Deekshitulu has been making allegations regarding graft in the temple administration, antique jewellery going missing and temple’s kitchen being dug up in search of hidden wealth.

He also alleged that a “pink diamond”, which adorned one of the ancient ornaments of the temple’s deity and had gone missing a few years ago, surfaced at a diamond auction in Geneva recently.

Meanwhile, a group of seers representing various religious Mutts are scheduled to meet in Tirupati on Saturday to take stock of the situation at Tirumala temple.

“The recent developments have caused a lot of anguish to the Hindus all over the country. We shall discuss the same and come out with a declaration, to be presented to the state government so as to put an end to all the controversies,” Swamy Paripoornanda of Sri Peetham, said.