Bharatiya Janata Party MP Subrahmanian Swamy on Wednesday filed a civil defamatory suit in Andhra Pradesh high court against a media house for Rs 100 crore for spreading canards against the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams.
Swamy, who landed in Vijayawada in the morning, filed a petition in the high court alleging that the media house has been spreading false information against the TTD, stating that the latter was Christianising the temple.
He alleged that the media house financed and supported by Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu was responsible for this fake news.
“In the capacity of a Balaji Bhakt, I am filing the defamation case suing it for Rs 100 crore,” he said.
Swamy is also expected to meet Andhra Pradesh chief minster Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy in the afternoon, before speaking to the media.
The BJP MP, known for his controversial comments against his own party leaders, vowed to liberate the TTD from the clutches of the government.
“In Tamil Nadu, I fought a legal battle to see that the state government had no control over Nataraja Swamy temple. The Supreme Court also upheld my argument sating that the Tamil Nadu government had nothing to do with the management of the temple,” he said.
He said as many as four lakh temples were under the control of the governments, whereas there was no supervision of the government on mosques and churches.
Swamy pointed out that the false campaign on the Tirumala temple over propagation of Christianity in the hill shrine for quite some time, especially after Jagan Mohan Reddy took over as the chief minister.
He said he would also file a separate petition against TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu for his comments on Tirumala temple.
He alleged that during the TDP regime, large scale irregularities had taken place in the TTD.
He demanded that the TTD accounts in the previous five years of the TDP regime should be audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
“If it happens, it is going to be a very bad news for Chandrababu Naidu,” Swamy said.