VIZIANAGARAM: Simhachalam Devasthanam and MANSAS Trust Chairperson Sanchaitha Gajapathi Raju criticized her paternal uncle and former Union minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju for giving more priority to politics than the development of Simhachalam devasthanams. She also expressed outrage at him for not trying his best for the development of the temples despite being a central minister.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, Sanchaitha questioned him why he did not propose Simhachalam temple under Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) earlier though the Tirupati and Srisailam temples were selected under this scheme. She also slammed him for his failure to initiate minimum efforts in this direction even though his party was in power both at the Centre and in the state.

Sanchaitha squarely blamed the previous TDP government's lackadaisical approach for the non-development of MANSAS Trust.

Sanchaitha thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and State Tourism Minister Avanthi Srinivas for the selection of Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy temple of Simhachalam under PRASAD of the Union Tourism Ministry now.

She stated that although the Centre had introduced a scheme sanctioning Rs 1 lakh per acre for the plantation in temple lands, it was neglected by the previous administrators. She appealed to the people of North Andhra to see through the pretentious love of Chandrababu Naidu and Ashok Gajapathi Raju on North Andhra and Simhachalam.