Bharatiya Janata Party has frowned upon the decision of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) to deny entry to the common devotees arriving without a ticket via Alipiri, while ‘allowing’ free darshan for over 3,000 devotees, who reached Tirumala on the ‘Annamayya route’ along with YSR Congress leader and former MLA Akepati Amarnath Reddy on Tuesday.
At a media conference here on Wednesday, party spokespersons G. Bhanuprakash Reddy and Samanchi Srinivas questioned the rationale behind the TTD’s decision to allow the devotees in large numbers on the porous forest route without any security check or scrutiny.
Taking a dig at Mr. Amarnath Reddy’s party affiliation, the BJP leaders dubbed the entire contingent as ‘YSRCP devotees’, who they alleged were ‘first among equals’ for the TTD. “On one hand, the TTD is preventing devotees at Alipiri, but has no qualms in extending darshan to those coming through the forest route without asking any questions. Is Tirumala a Dharmic place or the ruling party’s office?” they questioned.
“Allowing 3,000 members into the temple free of cost caused a loss of ₹9 lakh to the TTD’s exchequer. The authorities should demand and collect the same from the YSR Congress Party,” Mr. Bhanuprakash Reddy demanded.
Mr. Srinivas insisted that the TTD should continue to function as an autonomous body, without bending over backwards to please the government or its ‘political bosses’.
