Jagan surprises many with pick for TTD chairman; smear campaign follows

The Andhra Pradesh government constitutes a new TTD Board every two years. The tenure of the current TTD Board ends on 8 August.

As the outgoing chairman is also a Reddy, everyone expected that Jagan this time, as part of his time-tested social-engineering formula, would pick a non-Reddy or a person from the backward classes (BCs) to head the TTD Board.

The TTD chairman is considered to be a coveted post. The TTD manages the affairs of one of the world’s richest Hindu temples — the Tirumala hill shrine located in the Chittoor district.

The TTD’s top post allows its holder to network with VVIPs from across the country visiting the Tirumala temple. Many also consider it a service to the Lord.

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The process

Several names popped up for the TTD chairman’s post. Prominent among them was the YSRCP’s BC wing head Janga Krishna Murthy and former minster Kolusu Partha Sarathy.

The name of former minister Sidda Raghav Rao, who defected to the YSRCP from the TDP after the 2019 polls, also came up for discussion.

File photo of Bhuman Karunakar Reddy with YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. (BhumanaKarunakarreddy.official/Facebook)

However, in a surprise development, Jagan picked Karunakar Reddy.

Interestingly it will be the second time that Karunakar Reddy will be the TTD chairman. He served in the post from 2006 to 2008 when Jagan’s father YS Rajasekhar Reddy was the chief minister.

Karunakar Reddy is a staunch loyalist to the YS family. Once a Congress leader, he left the party along with Jagan in 2012.

Currently, Jagan’s uncle and former Ongole MP YV Subba Reddy is the TTD chairman. He was already given one extension, which will end on 8 August.

After the YSRCP came to power, the TTD chairman post went to Subba Reddy. After the two-year tenure ended in 2021, Jagan continued with Subba Reddy for two more years.

Also read: TTD launches mobile app for ticket-booking, other services

Why Karunakar Reddy?

“It is learnt that Karunakar Reddy is contemplating retiring from active politics and is not interested in contesting the 2024 polls,” a senior YSRCP leader told South First.

“He wants Jagan to give the Tirupati party ticket to contest the 2024 polls to his son Abhinay Reddy,” added the leader. “That’s why, maybe before he retires from politics, Jagan wants to reward him with the most coveted post.”

The leader continued: “Everyone knows how staunch a loyalist Karunakar Reddy has been to the YS family. Jagan puts aside any equation when it comes to rewarding loyalty, and this is one such example.”

Abhinay Reddy is currently deputy mayor of Tirupati municipal corporation.

Even as the GO was issued appointing Karunakar Reddy as the TTD chairman, an old picture of Karunakar Reddy’s daughter Neeha Reddy’s marriage went viral on social media platforms.

Neeha Reddy was married to YS Sumadhur Reddy, son of YS Ravindra Reddy and brother of YS Rajasekhara Reddy.

The YS family practises Christianity, and the wedding was also held in the Christian tradition.

Critics of Jagan dug up those old newspaper clips of Neeha Reddy’s marriage to spread a message that Jagan appointed a Christian to the TTD Board.

However, Karunakar Reddy is a staunch practising Hindu, and it is only his daughter who went into a Christian family after marriage.

Christian Mla as a TTD chairman ??@sudhirjourno @JaiTDP @MahaaOfficial @hmtvnewslive @tv5newsnow @eenadulivenews pic.twitter.com/tusRHhne7S

— s (@Suman279Suman) August 6, 2023

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Family background

Notably when YV Subba Reddy was tipped to take charge as the TTD chairman in June 2019, his religious credentials had also sparked a controversy.

Social media posts at that time had gone viral claiming that Subba Reddy was a Christian, like his nephew Jagan.

Subba Reddy had to publicly explain that he was a staunch Hindu and not a Christian.

Though practising Christians, Jagan’s family is an eclectic mix of several castes and communities with liberal views.

Subba Reddy’s wife Swarnalatha Reddy and Jagan’s mother YS Vijayalakshmi are siblings.

While Swarnalatha Reddy was married into a Hindu family, Vijayalakshmi was married into the YS family, which practises Christianity.

Two maternal aunts of Jagan’s father and former chief minister — the late YS Rajasekhar Reddy — were married into Dalit families.

Jagan’s first cousin, Veronica Reddy, is married to Manchu Vishnu, son of Tollywood veteran Mohan Babu, who is a staunch Hindu.

Some members of Jagan’s extended family members are married into several other Hindu communities.

Also read: Why is nothing allowed to fly over Tirupati temple?