The visit of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team under the Union Home Ministry, which was supposed to visit Tirupati on Sunday to inspect the security lapses in Tirumala-Tirupati, has been abruptly suspended. Information about the visit reached TTD only on Saturday.
The team, led by Additional Secretary Sanjeev Kumar Jindal, expected to reach Tirupati on Sunday and to hold discussions with TTD officials on Monday. Since law and order is a matter under the purview of the state government, the sudden visit of the central team without any consultation has surprised many.
Meanwhile, the fact that Union Home Minister Amit Shah held discussions on various issues during a dinner at Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu’s house on Saturday night and the cancellation of the Home Ministry team’s visit on Sunday has caught the attention of many.
It may be recalled that six people died and dozens were injured in a stampede on the occasion of the issuance of Vaikuntha Ekadashi darshan tokens on the 8th of this month. A fire broke out on the 13th of this month. Two incidents that happened in quick succession brought the security and governance failures in TTD to the fore.
In this context, the Center stepped in to examine the security lapses in TTD and provide appropriate advice. It has undertaken to conduct a comprehensive investigation and initially decided to send Additional Secretary of the Disaster Management Department Sanjeev Kumar Jindal to Tirupati. It has also written a letter to TTD Chairman BR Naidu to this effect.
The Disaster Management Department is under the Union Home Ministry, which is represented by Amit Shah. The Union Home Ministry has also finalized the schedule that Sanjeev Kumar Jindal will fly from Delhi to Chennai Airport on the 19th of this month and from there to Tirupati by Vande Bharat Express. This letter states that there will be a review with TTD officials on the 20th.
Later, the Union Home Ministry suddenly withdrew these orders. It was alleged that the Modi government has been waiting for a long time to put its finger on TTD affairs. It may be recalled that some high-profile members of the TTD trust board from other states were nominees of the Modi government, both in YS Jaganmohan Reddy and Chandrababu Naidu regimes.
After the TDP coalition government came to power in the state, it acted strategically when the laddu controversy arose. As per the orders of the Supreme Court, the investigation into the adulteration in the manufacture of laddu was transferred to the CBI under the control of the Union Home Ministry.
Now, there are criticisms that the NDRF is being used to interfere in the security and governance of TTD. It is alleged that the coalition politics have created an opportunity for the Center to indirectly infiltrate TTD, a famous spiritual center that has been independent till now.
The Union Home Minister interestingly did not respond to TTD’s requests for the last several years to declare Tirumala as a ‘no-fly zone’, as flying of several flights on and above Tirumala temple amounted to violation of Agama Shastra norms.