Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh) [India]: BR Naidu took oath as the 54th Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) on Wednesday morning at the Tirumala Sri Venkateswara Temple.
TTD Executive Officer Shyamala Rao administered the oath to the Chairman.
He first had a darshan of Varaha Swamy and then proceeded to enter the temple from Vaikuntham Queue Complex 1. After the darshan of Lord Venkateswara, the priests offered their blessings with Vedic chants at the Ranganayakula Mandapam.
Earlier he was appointed the new Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Chairman and expressed his intention to work in a selfless manner.
His appointment comes a month after the controversy over Tirupati Prasadam began. This issue arose when Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu alleged that substandard ingredients, including animal fat, were used in the preparation of Tirupati laddus, the Prasadam offered at the Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati, during the previous YSRCP government.
On October 4, the Supreme Court constituted an independent Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the allegations of the use of animal fat to make laddus to serve as prasadam at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh, where Lord Venkateswara is worshipped.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan said sentiments of crores of devotees across the world are involved with Tirumala prasadam. “We don’t want this to turn into political drama. If there is an independent body, there will be confidence,” said the bench as it disposed of the petitions.
The apex court constituted a new SIT, and ordered that the SIT will consist of two officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) who will be nominated by the CBI director, two officers of the Andhra Pradesh state police to be nominated by the state government and a senior official of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
The top court said that SIT will be supervised by the CBI director and the new SIT will replace the one set up by the state government.