Former chief priest of Tirumala temple Ramana Dikshitulu has drawn criticism from his fellow employees.
They are of the opinion that the serious charges of corruption, misappropriation of the jewellery and allegations of harassment by the temple authorities levelled by him have done an irreparable damage to the image of the institution. They say retirement is a common phenomenon.
But quite interestingly the same employees reacted in a different way when the Sannidhi Golla was made to retire in the recent past. The leaders of the Yadav community staged huge protests at Tirupati, submitted numerous memorandums to the government and argued that the Sannidhi Golla was not a regular post but was of a hereditary in nature.
While so, the leaders of various employees unions felt that Dikshitulu might have rendered matchless services at the hill temple for two decades. But this doesn’t mean that he can take things for granted. One cannot stake the decorum of the post (chief priest) and the prestige of the institution to meet his selfish ends more so ever when the successors are from his own family, they contended.
The reports that Dikshitulu has intensified his campaign against the prestigious institution by meeting senior leaders of the BJP and that the party MP Subramanian Swamy is all set to file a PIL in the apex court also has ruffled the sentiments of the employees.
Apart from the rumours that Dikshitulu on his return from New Delhi is planning to stage an indefinite fast at Tirupati has added to their annoyance for they strongly believe that the pious image of the institution will take a further beating if it were to be so.
It is against this backdrop that it remains to be seen as to what riveting turns the ongoing developments that has taken the entire country for a ride shall lead to.
