Tirupati, April 14 (PTI) Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Executive Officer J Syamala Rao on Monday slammed the temple body’s former chairman B Karunakara Reddy terming his allegations over the death of cows in Goshala recently as baseless and made to malign temple body.
“The EO refuted the allegations made by former TTD Trust board Chairman Bhumana Karunakara Reddy over the suspicious deaths of 100 cows in TTD Goshala as baseless and made with an intention to malign the reputation of TTD,” said a press release from TTD.
Countering Reddy, Rao asserted that there were a ‘lot of corrupt practices’ at the goshala during the erstwhile YSRCP regime between March 2021 and March 2024. He noted that on average nearly 15 cows die every month due to old age and disease.
Observing that 179 cows died in 2024 and 43 cows died due to old age and disease from January to March 2025, he noted that 59 calves were born in between.
It is unfortunate that the former TTD chief made ‘baseless allegations’ that TTD has ignored fodder for cows and that no proper care was taken, resulting in the bovine deaths, he said.
In fact, a TTD vigilance report clearly said that negligence and misappropriation took place during the earlier regime, which included unhygienic and poor quality fodder, illegal tenders and others, Rao said.
Further, he said many reforms were ushered in since June 2024, leading to the enhancement of the taste of annaprasadam, Srivari prasadams, and laddu, he added.
Meanwhile, YSRCP leader and former endowments minister K Satyanarayana condemned TTD for “its inconsistent response to the death of cows”.
“While TTD and minister Nara Lokesh initially dismissed reports of cattle deaths as false, TTD board member Bhanuprakash Reddy confirmed their occurrence on the same day, and TTD Chairman BR Naidu admitted to 22 deaths, downplaying their significance by comparing them to human deaths,” said Satyanarayana in a YSRCP press release.
Comparing these statistics, he said TTD EO later stated that 43 cows had died, pointing to their ‘contradictory’ nature.
Satyanarayana accused Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu of ‘politicising’ Tirumala by appointing loyalists to key positions, including appointing BR Naidu as the chairman and Rao as EO, thereby ‘undermining the institution’s sanctity’.
He stated that the government ignored former TTD chairman Bhumana Karunakara Reddy’s ‘evidence-based’ concerns about mismanagement in the goshala, labelling them as fake propaganda.
Moreover, he asserted that public outrage forced TTD to acknowledge the deaths, “revealing systemic neglect in cattle care”. PTI STH ADB
