Tirupati TTD Trust Board chairman now refutes land sale reports; points at previous govt

Amid the furore over the proposed sale of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) lands, the Trust Board chairman of TTD, YV Subba Reddy, on Monday doubled back on the reports, saying that no such decision has been taken yet.

The TTD Board had purportedly earlier decided to auction 50 immovable properties in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, worth Rs 23.92 crore, through a public auction, including 23 properties in Tamil Nadu, 26 properties in Andhra Pradesh and one parcel of land in Rishikesh. 

Speaking to ANI, Reddy said, "The reports about the sale of TTD lands are all politically motivated. The actual decision was taken by the earlier board and the state government in 2014-2019. They had decided that small pieces of TTD land in villages, which are in remote areas, especially properties in TN villages, should be disposed of. This decision was taken as the TTD is not in a position to take care of those properties."

He further added that the present TTD board has only reviewed the earlier decision and till now no decision has been taken to sell the properties. "We have just reviewed the decision and asked the officials if they can not protect these properties. They have been asked to review the properties and submit a report," he said.

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Meanwhile, in the view of the controversy, the Andhra Pradesh government issued an order to the TTD Board and directed them to re-examine the issue in consultation with different stakeholders. According to the order, the proposed disposal of 50 properties by TTD will be kept in abeyance till the finalization of the matter. 

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Backlash from various quarters

The decision to auction the immovable properties received heavy backlash from various quarters, against the TTD Board and the state government. BJP leader Duggabati Purandeswari, the co-in charge of Karnataka BJP has condemned the sale of TTD lands, saying they were donated by devotees out of reverence to Lord Tirumala Venkateswara. He further added that TTD was only a custodian of these lands. 

Meanwhile, according to a TTD release, the practice of selling immovable, non-maintainable, and not useful properties has been in place since 1974. Between 1974-2014, about 129 such immovable properties, which were not useful to TTD activities, were disposed of in public auctions, it further said. 

Read: Tirupati temple trust withdrew deposits worth Rs.1300 cr from Yes Bank months ago

Read: Tirupati's TTD to auction 50 immovable properties in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu

(With ANI Inputs)