Bapiraju is TTD chief

HYDERABAD: The state government on Thursday appointed Narasapur (West Godavari) Congress MP Kanumuri Bapiraju as the chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devesthanams (TTD) that runs the richest temple in the country. The term of the Specified Authority comprising bureaucrats that has been running the TTD affairs for the last many months ended few days earlier.
Congress sources claimed that the name of Bapiraju, belonging to the Kshatriya community, was cleared by the Congress high command in the hope that the community, that has been increasingly veering towards the TDP especially in coastal Andhra, would remain with the ruling party.Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy had backed the candidature of Guntur MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao, but in view of his frequent criticisms of the party high command, he was bypassed. Three Congress MLAs, Ch Mutyam Reddy (Dubbaka, Medak), R Suyraprakash Rao (Rajahmundry) and P Rajeshwari Devi (Gannavaram, East Godavari, also figured in the reconstituted TTD board in which K V Ramanachary, principal secretary, endowments, and executive officer L V Subramanyam will figure as ex-officio members. incidentally, newly joined Congress leader Chiranjeevi nor his team of MLAs who merged their PRP party with the Congress found a place though Chiranjeevi reportedly tried for his brother-in-law Allu Aravind for the post of TTD chairman.
Meanwhile, miffed over the appointment, Guntur Congress MP Rayapati Sambasiva Rao may quit. He is reportedly being wooed by TDP.