VISAKHAPATNAM: A day after she was appointed member of Tirumala Tirupati Devastanam (TTD) trust board, Payakaraopeta MLA , Vangalapudi Anitha, dismissed reports of her being a Christian, in a press conference here on Saturday. The TTD trust board governs Lord Venkateswara’s shrine at Tirumala.Video clips of the TDP MLA’s 2014 interview to a Telugu channel, in which she claims to being a Christian, have gone viral. In the interview she says, “I always have a Bible in my bag and in my car. I don’t move out without the Bible in hand.” Several Hindu groups have raised objections to her nomination, and are insisting AP chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu remove her from the TTD board.According to reports, Naidu examined the video and decided to remove her from the board. He expressed anger with officials for not doing a proper background check of the nominees.In a press conference , Anitha said that she is a Hindu, and was never baptised. She alleged that the videos were doctored. She blamed YSRCP of being behind the ‘conspiracy’. Anitha claimed she belongs to aHindu family though her relatives are Christians. “My husband is a Hindu. I am a devotee of Lord Sri Venkateswara. I usually visit the Tirupati temple, and offer prayers once a month.”The MLA said that the general thinking is that all people belonging to SC communities are Christians. “My father and mother never converted. I read all religious books. I am an ardent devotee of Venkateswara Swamy. Even today morning, I visited Upamaka Venkateswara,” she said. Bharatiya Janata yuva Morcha, BJP’s youth wing slammed the government over Anitha’s appointment and demanded her removal.“It’s nothing but sacrilege. How can a self-proclaimed Christian be appointed to a Hindu religious body,” BJYM state president S Vishnuvardhan Reddy said.

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