Even before Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has constituted his Council of Ministers, the race for the prestigious post of chairman of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams has hotted up with aspirants going all out to present their cases.
The post is not only of a Cabinet rank but enables one holding it to deal directly with the top politicians of the country, constitutional heads, Union Ministers, and business tycoons who have a spiritual bent of mind.
It is for this reason that several tall leaders of the ruling YSRCP are throwing their hat in the ring.
This apart, the speculation that only one ministerial berth will be provided to each district has also contributed to the rat race.
Though several names have been doing the rounds for the plum post since the announcement of the election results on May 23, the fight is said to be mainly among Y.V. Subba Reddy, Bhumana Karunakar Reddy and actor and chairman of Vidyaniketan educational institutions Manchu Mohan Babu.
Interestingly, all the three happen to be the close relatives of YS family.
While Mr. Subba reddy has been reportedly promised to be compensated with the Chairman’s post for sacrificing his Ongole parliamentary seat to Magunta Srinivasulu reddy, Mr. Karunakar Reddy, who has been elected to the Assembly from Tirupati, repeatedly assured the TTD employees as well as the denizens of both Tirumala and Tirupati to solve their problems on being elected to power.
The fact that he has already served in the capacity of the TTD Chairman in 2007 and is well acquainted with the problems faced by employees besides his nativity is regarded as an added advantage.
Mr. Mohan Babu on the other hand not only raised the banner of revolt against the TDP government during the elections on the ground that it had failed to reimburse the college fees of the students, but also canvassed for the victory of YSRCP candidates.
Meanwhile, there are indications that the government would ease out Putta Sudhakar Yadav of the TDP who heads the board. It will be a formality as seven of its member trustees have already submitted their resignations.
It is against this backdrop that there are speculations that the government will constitute a full board immediately after the formation of Council of Ministers and not opt for a Specified Authority (SA).
