TDP MLA Anitha letter to AP CM, Asks to remove her from TTD

Tirupati, Apr 23: TDP MLA V Anitha on Sunday sent a letter to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu asking him to cancel her recent appointment as a member of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Board.

The letter was sent after opposition parties including the BJP began circulating a video on the internet, claiming that she was Christian.

Dismissing these allegations in a press meet on Saturday, the Payakaraopeta legislator stated that she had always been a Hindu and had never converted to any other religion.

In her letter on Sunday, Anitha reiterated that she was a Hindu and a big devotee of Lord Venkateswara but was being targeted for belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC).

Stating that she did not want to controversy to blow up further, she thanked the CM and asked him to cancel her appointment.

"I am extremely grateful to you for nominating me as member, TTD. Being a Hindu, I am blessed to have been given an opportunity to serve Lord Venkateswara," the letter stated.

The small video clip being circulated on Facebook and WhatsApp shows Anitha during an interview with Vanitha TV in 2014, where she seemingly says, "I'm Christian. Even now, there will be a Bible in my bag, and one in my car. I don't go out without it."

When the video first began doing the rounds, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the BJP, demanded Anitha's removal.

Since then, BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao has also demanded her resignation.