Tirupati: Authorities of famous Hindu temple Tirumala on Sunday ordered a probe into an audio tape of Bhakti channel chairman's alleged sexist talk with a woman employee.
Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD), which manages the affairs of the richest temple, ordered the probe by its vigilance wing into the purported telephonic conversation of Sri Venkateswara Bhakti Channel (SVBC) chairman Prudhvi Raj with a woman employee.
TTD Chairman Y.V. Subba Reddy ordered the probe after the audio tape, leaked by some channel employees, triggered a huge row and left the TTD authorities red-faced.
The incident caused embarassment to YSR Congress government. Taking a serious note of the incident, the government is reported to have asked Prudhvi Raj to resign.
A leader of YSRCP, Prudhvi Raj is also a Telugu film actor.
In the audio tape, which went viral, he is heard making sexist remarks. "I love you. I wanted to hug you from behind in office earlier in the day. But, I hesitated as you may raise an alarm. I want to have a drink in your company," he purportedly told her.
When the woman asks him if he was drunk, he tells her he had quit drinking a year ago but would want to restart in her company.
The audio tape sparked protests by the SVBC employees and opposition parties.
The SVBC employees union and BJP leader Bhanu Prakash demanded that Prudhvi Raj be sacked.
The SVBC chairman, however, denied the allegations. He said it was not his voice in the audio.
TTD has set up the channel in 2008 for publicizing the Tirumala temple activities.
Prudhvi Raj was appointed channel head after YSRCP came to power in May last year.