If there was any spiritual leader who was the most influential seer during the Jagan Mohan Reddy government and had grown rich and mighty in the last five years, it was Swamy Swaroopanandendra of Visakha Sarada Peetham.
He was like an Asthana spiritual guru for Jagan and had conducted several homams and pujas at the government expense.
The YSRCP chief used to give him a lot of importance to Swaroopanandendra Swamy’s words, advices and muhurthams.
Using his proximity with Jagan, this spiritual guru became closer even to Bharat Rashtra Samithi chief and former Telangana chief K Chandrasekhar Rao, after the latter fell out with Chinna Jeeyar Swamy.
He conducted Raja Shyamala Yagams for KCR and in return, got allotted two acres of precious land in Hyderabad.
But now, this gentleman took a sudden U-turn within a week of Jagan losing power to Telugu Desam Party headed by N Chandrababu Naidu and his allies – Jana Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party.
On Monday, Swaroopanandendra Swamy held a press conference and tried to explain that he had nothing to do with politics and his peetham was not meant for making money or doing politics.
“I am very happy that Chandrababu Naidu, along with Pawan Kalyan and the BJP came to power in Andhra Pradesh. As we had done in the past, we speak only truth, but do not change our words frequently,” he said.
Describing Naidu as a seasoned and powerful political leader, Swamy said the timing of Naidu’s swearing-in ceremony was strong and he would rule the state for a long time.
“I bless him to lead the state in the path of progress and do good for the people with the help of the Centre,” he said.
Not only that, Swamy said he would establish Sarada Peetham even in Amaravati capital region, indicating that he would request Naidu to allot land in Amaravati.
“We do bless every government impartially and extend the divine blessings of Goddess Raja Shyamala,” he said.
Stating that he was not praising Naidu for the first time, Swaroopanandendra said even when Naidu was ruling the state in the earlier stint, he had performed Yagams for the welfare of the TDP chief.
“I have a lot of respect for Chandrababu Naidu, as he is a senior most leader in the state. I pray for his good health and also the well-being of temples in the state,” he said.
“I conducted special prayers in Rajahmundry for the victory of Murali Mohan and the TDP in 2014,” he recalled and added that he was disclosing these things to media not out of fear or threat from anybody.
