Adikesavulu's last day in TTD

Monday may be the last official day for Tirumala Tirupathi Devastanam Trust Board chairman MP DK Adikeshavulu Naidu to preside over the panel of trustees.

 Since the State Government has recently decided to appoint a specified authority in place of the TTD Board of Trustees in the wake of several controversies, Monday's scheduled meeting of the TTD trust board may be the last in Adikesavulu's life.

 The Anant Swarnamaya project initiated by Adikesavulu is half-way through. The controversial plan to afix gold plated walls on the temple gopurams needed 250 kilograms of yellow metal and the chairman proposed to collect the metal through public donations.

 Adikesavulu could raise 175 kg of gold through charity so far. Interestingly, most of the gold came from the relatives and friends of the TTD chairman. It has to be seen whether the project could be completed if Adikesavulu quits the TTD panel at this crucial juncture.

 In the light of the controversies surrounduing the MP, it is unlikely that Adikesavulu is given a third term. He will be completing the second term as chairman on August 24.

 The TTD Trust chief earned another disrepute by expanding the Kalyanamastu programme to regional centres in the state. The allegations about the largescale corruption in the sale of Arjitha seva tickets and other services is another case in point.

 Telugu Desam president N Chandrababu Naidu recently made a sit-in in front of the admnistrative building of the TTD in Tirupati demanding the scrapping of the Trust Board and alleged that Adikesavulu is a liquor baron and an atheist who has no faith in Hindu deities.