The Andhra Pradesh Dharmika Parishad, an autonomous body under the Endowments Department, has appointed Endowments joint commissioner Chandrasekhar Azad as the special officer to oversee the process to select the pontiff of the Brahmamgari mutt in Kadapa district.
Endowments Minister Velampalli Srinivas Rao, on Thursday, said the parishad was asked to take necessary steps and resolve the issue at the earliest. Further, the parishad was asked to convene a meeting with seers and pontiffs to look into the matter and suggest a way out, he said.
Endowments Department special commissioner and member secretary of the parishad P. Arjun Rao issued orders in this regard.
After the erstwhile pontiff of the mutt Sri Veerabhoga Vasanta Venkateswara Swamy passed away last month, a dispute arose over his successor. It was said that the erstwhile pontiff had chosen his successor and wrote a will. But trouble broke out as the families of his first and second wives wanted a person from their respective lineage to be declared as the next successor of the mutt. Some Hindu spiritual leaders tried to resolve the deadlock amicably but in vain as both families refused to concede and held on to their respective demands.