Finding fault with manner in which GOs were issued and the procedure followed in the appointment of Sanchaita Gajapathi Raju as Simhachalam Devasthanam Trust Board and MANSAS Trust chairperson, BJP leaders on Friday said the party would resist any move to annexe endowment land.
MLC P.V.N. Madhav said the BJP had nothing to do with her appointment and had written to the central leadership to suspend Ms. Gajapathi Raju, BJYM national executive member and spokesperson in New Delhi, for being supportive of the YSRCP government while the party was in the opposition in Andhra Pradesh.
A GO was first issued forming the trust board and on February 29 hereditary trustee P. Ashok Gajspathi Raju was invited as Chairman for the trust board swearing in. Another GO was issued on March 3 appointing Ms. Gajapathi Raju and the other GOs with regard to the MANSAS Trust, Mr. Madhav said. The subsequent GOs were issued at midnight and were not uploaded on the Endowments Department website, he pointed out. The secretive manner raised doubts about the motives, particularly with regard to the thousands of acres of land under the temple and MANSAS Trust and smacked of a conspiracy, he said at a press conference here.
Land issue
The State Government that had taken up land-pooling for its housing programme asked the authorities to identify endowment land. The Simhachalam devasthanam had around 10,000 acres mostly donated by devotees over several generations and the Padmanabha Swamy temple another 2000 acres besides land under other temples. Its decision to make Visakhapatnam the Executive capital and searching for land roused suspicion, the MLC said.
The trust had 14,500 acres in four districts supporting 13 educational institutions. He aid the government eyed the land under the devasthanam and the MANSAS Trust and BJP would oppose any move to use temple land for other purposes other than those specified, he asserted.
Alleging that the traditions followed in the temple and the trust were turned into an ugly political game, former Floor Leader of BJP in the Assembly P. Vishnu Kumar Raju said if Ms. Gajapathi Raju had taken the decision (to accept the position) for the carrot of power, she should reconsider it on moral grounds.
Party City President M. Ravindra and State secretary Kasi Viswanatha Raju were present.
