Kothagudem: Turf war between Bhatti Vikramarka, Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy hits Peddammagudi temple affairs

Even as the GO was issued 12 days ago, the oath-taking of the Board of Trustees has not taken place till date and the process of constituting the board was put on hold

Kothagudem: The appointment of a chairman and trust board members for the Sri Kanaka Durga Ammavari Devasthanam (Peddammagudi) at Jagannathapuram in the district has exposed the intense turf war between Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Revenue Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, with the battle for domination between the two even leading to a government order being put on hold.

The GO, issued on March 6 by the Revenue (Endowment-II) Department, appointing a Congress leader Jammula Rajashekar and 13 others as the Board of Trustees has been put on hold as Bhatti Vikramarka and Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy compete to control the temple affairs. Bhatti Vikramarka, in a letter to Endowment Minister Konda Surekha on January 24, had asked her to consider the name of Rajashekar for the temple chairman post after his name was recommended by Telangana Forest Development Corporation chairman Podem Veeraiah. Veeraiah also wrote a letter to the district in-charge minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy asking him to consider Rajashekar, a Vikramarka follower, for the post and the Minister requested Surekha the same.

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Surekha then wrote a letter to the Endowment Commissioner on January 25 asking the official to consider the recommendations of Venkat Reddy and Veeraiah and issue orders appointing Rajashekar as the temple chairman.

Meanwhile, Khammam MP, R Raghuram Reddy also wrote to Surekha on January 23 proposing Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy’s follower Balineni Nageswar Rao’s name for the chairman post. Kothagudem MLA Kunamneni Sambasiva Rao also suggested Nageswar Rao for the post.

Even as the GO was issued 12 days ago, the oath-taking of the Board of Trustees has not taken place till date and the process of constituting the board was put on hold. The temple officials said it was due to the MLC elections the oath-taking delayed. However, sources said the actual reason was Srinivas Reddy, Raghuram Reddy and Sambasiva Rao being annoyed over the priority given to Bhatti Vikramarka’s candidate and were now insisting on getting the post to their candidate.

Peddammagudi is the most popular temple in the district as a large number of devotees visit the temple daily. The temple chairman post has been vacant for over a year and the devotees are upset over the political turf war affecting the temple affairs.