Political Controversy: Jagan Made An Appointment To Temple Trust In Andhra Pradesh: Here’s Why

AP CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has politicized and complicated fight among the royal family of Vizianagaram by pitting former Union minister and TDP Member of Parliament Ashok Gajapathi Raju against his niece. At the center of the storm is a State Government order dated 3 March.

Through the order, Sanchaita Gajapati Raju has replaced Ashok as the chairman of the Simhachalam Sri Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Devasthanam Trust and MANSAS (Maharaja Alak Narayan Society of Arts and Science) Trust Board.

Sanchita is the daughter of late Anand Gajapathi Raju, Ashok’s elder brother who died in 2016. Anand was the first with the Congress and then the TDP who headed the trust from 1994 until his death.

The appointment of Sanchaita, a national executive member of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha, has angered the State Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that has issued a notice to her.

Sanchaita’s appointment, a shrewd move to replace Ashok, has brought to limelight the infighting in the erstwhile royal family of the Gajapathis in Vizianagaram( town 60 km from Visakhapatnam).

What has raised hackles of Reddy’s opponents is the haste with which Sanchaita was sworn in as the chairperson of both trusts. Even the BJP has questioned why she should be sworn in within 24 hours of the government order being issued.

The AP Government had reconstituted the Simhachalam Temple trust’s board on 2 February and the members were scheduled to be sworn in on 29 February.

The event, for which Ashok was invited, was canceled at the eleventh hour and then the State Government came up with the order on 3 March appointing Sanchaita as the chairperson. Sachaita stays with her mother after Uma and Anand got divorced.

Sanchaita says she faced the worst after Anand passed away in 2016 when she wasn’t even allowed to stay in the house. Ashok, though, has a different version.

The former union minister says there was no space for Sanchaita in the house and they had made arrangements for her stay at the residence of a family friend.

What helped Reddy appoint Sanchaita was that she was the only one who could have replaced Ashok as traditionally the eldest legal heir of the family heads these trust since 1713 when the Simhadri temple trust was set up.

Jagan took advantage of a letter to him from Sanchaita claiming her right. “I applied saying that as the eldest legal heir of my father, I have the right to be a part of these organizations. Should not a woman render service?" she asked the media.

Ashok, who has headed the trust after Anand’s death in 2016, contends this saying his father PVG Raju’s wish was that only a male heir should head the trusts. Sanchaita argues that her grandfather was always committed to women’s empowerment.

Ashok says the Jagan government’s intervention into the Trust affairs is not welcome. He has alleged that there is a far bigger objective in removing him as the chairman of the trusts without even serving him a notice. He argues that valuable lands under the trust’s holding are at risk and alleges that efforts are on to corner them.

To compound her woes, the State BJP unit has sent a report to the national general secretary (organization) BL Santosh. Meanwhile, Ashok’s family has filed a case in the court against the Sanchaita’s appointment and has sought a stay.

For Jagan, the feud within the Vizianagaram royal family has not only helped him to embarrass the Opposition but also show the State BJP in poor light besides further driving the wedge in the Gajapathi family.