Swami Paripoornananda of Sri Peetham, Kakinada, on Tuesday deplored the sacking of Pusapati Ashok Gajapathi Raju as chairperson of the Simhachalam Temple Trust Board and replacing him with Sanchaita Gajapathi Raju, daughter of late Pusapati Ananda Gajapathi Raju.
The State Government had recently issued a Government Order appointing Ms. Sanchaita as chairperson of the Simhachalam Temple Trust Board.
Ms. Sanchaita’s appointment evoked resentment in the three north Andhra districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam. Public opinion was in favour of Mr. Ashok Gajapathi Raju as the Pusapati family enjoyed a lot of goodwill, having donated thousands of acres of land to 101 temples in the region as well as to four temples in East Godavari district, Swami Paripoornananda told a press conference here on Tuesday.
“My friends and followers from the three districts have expressed their anguish to me over the injustice done to Mr. Raju, the hereditary trustee of the temple. A member of the royal family who has done so much for the region deserves to be honoured, not disrespected,” the Swami said.
Swami Paripoornanda recalled that during TDP rule, Mr. Raju, as chairman of the trust, had refused to give Simhachalam temple lands to the State Government despite being a senior TDP member himself. “It was a reflection of his integrity. He had said that a notice could be served a probe conducted into allegations being levelled against him. The Government should allow him to continue as chairman, pending completion of the inquiry,” Swami Paripoornananda said.
The Swami said that he would participate in the annual ‘Giri Pradakshina’ (circumambulation) of the Simhachalam temple this year to collect first-hand information on the temple lands, reportedly encroached upon by people of other faiths, and submit a report to the State Government.
White Paper sought
Alleging meddling in the affairs of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) by successive governments, the Swami said that the Common Good Fund (CGF) of the TTD was increased from ₹2.5 crore to ₹50 crore recently by the State Government. Such a move was also attempted by the TDP government in the past, he said, adding that he wondered for whose ‘common good’ the funds would be utilised, and sought a White Paper on the issue.
MLC P.V.N. Madhav and former MLA P. Vishnu Kumar Raju were present.
