CM Thackeray’s close aide Milind Narvekar appointed as Tirupati temple trust member

Milind Narvekar, Shiv Sena secretary and close aide of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, was appointed as a member of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust Board on Wednesday

Milind Narvekar, Shiv Sena secretary and close aide of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, was appointed as a member of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust Board on Wednesday. Thackeray reportedly spoke to Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to recommend Narvekar as one of the 24 members of the richest temple board in the country.

Milind Narvekar was nominated by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray for the position of member of Tirupati temple trust which is the richest temple board in the country. (HT FILE)

Following the appointment, Narvekar thanked Thackeray and the Andhra government in a post on Twitter. “I am grateful to the Government of Andhra Pradesh for appointing me as the member of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Trust, and thankful to chief minister Uddhav Thackeray for giving me this opportunity. God has opened this door for me to do service. This is my good fortune,” Narvekar posted on Thursday.

Chief ministers of all states nominate one person from the state to the temple trust board every two years. In 2018, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and then state finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar’s wife Sapna was appointed on the trust board. The Maharashtra government has allotted a 650-square metre plot in Bandra to the trust in 2019. The Andhra Pradesh government had also planned to give plot to the state to set up a guest house on the lines of Haj House for thousands of devotees visiting the temple from Maharashtra.