The BJP has taken exception to the manner in which the Endowments Department is “hampering the interests” of the Hindu temples by toeing the line of the successive governments.
“The BJP, on coming to power, will consider doing away with the department,” party State president Somu Veerraju said while addressing the media here on Thursday after attending a constituency-level review meeting with the party workers.
Temple lands
He blamed the TDP regime for trying to alienate the Simhachalam temple lands to its sympathisers. In the same vein, Mr. Veerraju accused the ruling YSRCP of contemplating to use the said land for developing the new capital in Visakhapatnam.
“We will not allow misuse of temple lands for purposes other than mandated. The Endowments Department has become so redundant that the BJP, on coming to power, will consider doing away with it,” he said.
Mr. Veerraju also flayed the TTD for converting its trust board and administrative units into “rehabilitation centres for ruling party leaders.”
‘Outrageous incident’
Terming as “outrageous” the incident in which an employee of the SVBC sent the link of a pornographic website to a devotee, he regretted that the rot had set in at all levels.
On the alleged move by the TTD to withdraw the defamation case against former chief priest A.V. Ramana Deekshitulu and Rajya Sabha member V. Vijaya Sai Reddy, the BJP State chief demanded that the TDP and the YSRCP should jointly pay back ₹2 crore incurred to the Lord’s exchequer by way of court fee.
“It was absurd on the part of the TTD to go for a defamation case, where the amount was fixed at ₹200 crore. How can anyone fix value for Lord Venkateswara’s fame?” he wondered.
He saw the need for complete overhaul of the religious institutions by handing them over to dharmacharyas, spiritual leaders and people with righteous bent of mind.
He demanded the TTD to earmark ₹500 crore every year towards propagation of Hindu Dharma. “The allocation of ₹100 crore is grossly insufficient,” he said, as a lion’s share of it was going towards meeting the expenses of the SVBC, leaving little for ground-level activities.
