“How can this be allowed @HMOIndia? Sudha Murthy resigns from Thirupathi board. Jagan appoints his uncle YEHOVA VINCENT Subbareddy ( YV SUBBARADDY) – a staunch Evangelist as chairman of TIRUPATI TUMALA BALAJI TEMPLE, richest Hindu shrine He works to spread more CHURCHES in Andhra.”

This message was tweeted by academic and staunch Narendra Modi supporter Madhu Kishwar last week, alleging that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy had appointed his uncle, who she claimed was “a staunch evangelist”, as the chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati temple trust.

Kishwar alleged that the full name of Jagan Mohan Reddy’s uncle YV Subba Reddy is Yehova Vincent Subbareddy. She said had Reddy had replaced author and chairperson of the Infosys Foundation Sudha Murthy from the board.

Her tweet has been retweeted over 6,000 times and “liked’ over 8,400 times since it was posted on June 11. Earlier, the same claim had been made in a tweet posted by a user Ritu Rathaur, who is followed on the platform by the Office of Nirmala Sitharaman, and Union Minister Giriraj Singh.

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam is an independent trust established to manage the famous Tirumala Venkateshwara temple in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh.

Wrong name

YV Subba Reddy’s full name is Yarram Venkata Subba Reddy and not Yehova Vincent Subba Reddy, as Madhu Kishwar claimed. This was confirmed by Subba Reddy himself, who retweeted this response, in which a copy of his poll affidavit was attached.

Subba Reddy also tweeted a screenshot of an article in which he has been quoted as saying that he is a Hindu since birth.

Speculation about Y V Subbareddy’s appointment before his eventual confirmation was followed by aggressive editing of his Wikipedia page, to claim that he is a “converted Christian”. More than 200 edits were made to the page before it was due to “persistent vandalism”.

Sudha Murthy clarification

Author and chairperson of Infosys Foundation, Sudha Murthy has clarified that her resignation from the board of the trust was not political.

“We were appointed by previous govt and it is not nice to continue without an invite,” she told The News Minute. “My decision was not political, it was just the decent thing to do.” She added, “If the new government invites me, I will join.”

This article first appeared on Alt News.