Political Diary

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) today asked the Centre to conduct a CBI probe into the 2006 gold dollars scam in Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams(TTD).Addressing a press conference here, TDP SC Cell President V Ramaiah said the TTD’s top authorities have failed to enquire into the infamous dollars scam.

The Tirumala temple Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Mr Seshadri, alias dollar Seshadri , who is on extension for two more years even after his retirement in 2006, knew of the frauds taking place in the temple, he alleged.

Though the then TTDs Chief Vigilance and Security Officer Mr B V Ramana Kumar found Mr Seshadri as the prime accused in the scam, yet the TTD board extended Seshadri’s service, he pointed out.The TTD leader was critical that though Mr Seshadri, who has been the sole custodian of the temple treasury for the last ten years even after his retirement in 2006, was neither a vedic scholar nor an authority on agama sastras, he keeps his involvement compulsory in all tirumala temple rituals and during VIP visits.

What business has he in the temple? Why the government and the TTD are shielding the prime accused with questionable character? By evading the answers, the TTD is directly hurting the sentiments of the devotees, who feel that there is no security to the assets and jewels of the temple.

Notably, a Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court compirising Justices G Raghuram and Ramesh Ranganathan on August 3, 2009 directed the TTD to submit a comprehensive list of the jewellery and also registers concerned belonging to the main temple at Tirumala and also other TTD-run sub-temples. These interm orders were passed by Bench while hearing a writ petition filed by Bezwada Govinda Reddy belonging to Nellore District.