Devotees, religious groups up in arms against TTD on decision to sell away Lord Balaji's assets

Ruling YSR Congress MP says selling assets is belittling donors

Hyderabad: The decision to sell immovable assets of India's richest Lord Venkateswara temple on Tirumala hill shrine not only triggered political storm but also drew protests from devotees and religious groups. Even ruling YSR Congress MP Raghu Rama Krishna Raju opposed the move saying selling God's assets is belittling the donors.

The BJP has called upon all its leaders and cadres to have 'SaveLordBalajiLands' slogan as DP for their social media accounts. The slogan is trending as BJP top leaders GVL Narasimha Rao, Sunil Deodhar, state president Kanna Lakshminarayana and all other leaders changed their DP accordingly.

Jana Sena party president Pawan Kalyan lashed out at the temple trust board for the decision that hurts the sentiments of devotees.

Temples protection movement convenor CS Rangarajan appealed to the government to form a Dharmika Parishad to govern the assets of temples. He expressed fears that the TTD's decision would set a precedent for all the temples for selling away the properties donated by devotees.

Viswa Hindu Parishad threatened the YS Jagan government with launching Kar Seva, if the decision to sell God's properties is not withdrawn.

It may be recalled that the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) trust board headed by YV Subba Reddy, the uncle of chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, has taken a decision on February 29 to sell away 23 'unviable' properties in Tamil Nadu. Accordingly, the estate officer on April 30 formed two panels to conduct the auction and deposit the proceeds in the temple account.

According to sources, like-minded spiritual gurus are discussing strategies to thwart the temple board's move.

TTD chairman Subba Reddy defended the decision, saying it was originally taken during the TDP - BJP regime in 2015.