If YSR Congress party president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has his way, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams will get a new chairman for its trust board soon.
The present term of TTD trust board chairman Y V Subba Reddy is going to end by August 12 and it is unlikely that he will get an extension for the third term, as Jagan is expected to utilise his services completely for the party in the election year.
Sources said the chief minister has already begun the exercise for the new TTD chairman post and he is learnt to have short-listed two names for the same – present MLC Janga Krishna Murthy and Chandragiri MLA Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy.
While Chevireddy has already been a member of the TTD trust board as an ex-officio member, he has been strongly lobbying for the post. He is learnt to have told the chief minister that it has been a long-cherished dream to become the TTD chairman.
He has also offered to step down from the contest in the next assembly elections and has recommended his son for the Chandragiri seat.
“If I get at least one term as the TTD trust board chairman, it will be a big boon for me,” he reportedly told Jagan.
However, the chief minister has his own equations. He wants Chevireddy to take key responsibility of the party in Annamayya and Tirupati districts to fight the next elections.
Secondly, Jagan may not choose another Reddy for the TTD post, as Subba Reddy has been holding it for the last two terms. So, he might prefer a backward classes leader like Janga Krishna Murthy, who has been very active and loyal in the YSR Congress party.
Janga, who hails from Yadava community from Palnadu region, had earlier served as an MLA and also TTD trust board member. Since he has a lot of hold on the BCs, the YSRC might further consolidate its position in the BCs by giving him the TTD post.
Subba Reddy has been requesting Jagan to relieve him from the TTD, as he wants to be very active in the state politics. He is at present holding the fort in Visakhapatnam and north-coastal districts. He would have to play a key role in the next elections in this region, say sources.