{"id":89689,"date":"2021-04-06T13:42:25","date_gmt":"2021-04-06T08:12:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/?p=89689"},"modified":"2021-04-06T13:42:25","modified_gmt":"2021-04-06T08:12:25","slug":"false-claim-of-tirupati-balaji-temple-chairman-is-christian-and-a-trustee-of-siddhi-vinayak-is-muslim-viral-on-social-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/false-claim-of-tirupati-balaji-temple-chairman-is-christian-and-a-trustee-of-siddhi-vinayak-is-muslim-viral-on-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Siddhivinayak Temple trustee Muslim &amp; president of Tirupati Balaji Christian? False claim viral"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Recently, a claim has been making the rounds on social media that the trustee of Mumbai&#8217;s famous Siddhivinayak Temple is a man named Salim, while the president of the Tirupati Balaji Mandir Samiti is Chandrashekhar Reddy, a Christian. Those circulating the claim are questioning why the trustees of Hindu places of worship are not Hindus. Twitter user &#8216;Pawan Pandey (Nationalist)&#8217; tweeted the same. (<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.is\/gF3lQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Archive link<\/a>)<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"hi\">\u0924\u093f\u0930\u0941\u092a\u0924\u093f \u092c\u093e\u0932\u093e \u0924\u093f\u0930\u0941\u092a\u0924\u093f \u092c\u093e\u0932\u093e\u091c\u0940 \u092e\u0902\u0926\u093f\u0930 \u0938\u092e\u093f\u0924\u093f \u0915\u093e \u0905\u0927\u094d\u092f\u0915\u094d\u0937 \u091a\u0926\u094d\u0930\u0936\u0947\u0916\u0930 \u0930\u0947\u0921\u094d\u0921\u0940 \u0908\u0938\u093e\u0908 \u0939\u0948\u0964<\/p>\n<p>\u0938\u093f\u0926\u094d\u0927\u093f \u0935\u093f\u0928\u093e\u092f\u0915 \u092e\u0928\u094d\u0926\u093f\u0930 \u0915\u093e \u091f\u094d\u0930\u0938\u094d\u091f\u0940 \u0938\u0932\u0940\u092e \u092e\u0941\u0938\u094d\u0932\u093f\u092e \u0939\u0948\u0964<br \/>\n\u0906\u0916\u093c\u093f\u0930 \u0915\u094d\u092f\u0942 \u0914\u0930 \u0915\u092c \u0924\u0915?<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 \u092a\u0935\u0928 \u092a\u093e\u0923\u094d\u0921\u0947\u092f( \u0930\u093e\u0937\u094d\u091f\u094d\u0930\u0935\u093e\u0926\u0940 ) (@Pandey_1991VS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Pandey_1991VS\/status\/1374339571450662921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 23, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Twitter user <a href=\"http:\/\/c\/Users\/Alt%20NEWS\/Desktop\/2021-04-02%2016_31_29-(5)%20%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%B6%20%E0%A4%B6%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%BE%20on%20Twitter_%20_%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BF%20%E0%A4%AC%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%9C%E0%A5%80%20%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B0%20%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BF%20%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%20%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B7%20%E0%A4%9A%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%96%E0%A4%B0%20%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A1%E0%A5%8D.png\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Suresh Sharma<\/a> also posted the claim.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-89690 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/word-image-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"810\" height=\"379\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/word-image-1.png 810w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/word-image-1-300x140.png 300w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/word-image-1-768x359.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A page titled &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/story.php?story_fbid=255160252918873&amp;id=104662474635319\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Virat Hindu Samagam VHS<\/a>&#8216; shared the message on Facebook.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-89691 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/word-image-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"594\" height=\"826\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/word-image-1.jpeg 594w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/word-image-1-216x300.jpeg 216w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 594px) 100vw, 594px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>It is being circulated widely across <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/search\/top?q=%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BF%20%E0%A4%AC%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%9C%E0%A5%80%20%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B0%20%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BF%20%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%20%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B7%20%E0%A4%9A%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%96%E0%A4%B0%20%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A1%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A1%E0%A5%80%20%E0%A4%88%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%88%20%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A7%E0%A4%BF%20%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%95%20%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B0%20%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%20%E0%A4%9F%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%9F%E0%A5%80%20%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%AE%20%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%AE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Facebook<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/search?q=%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%AA%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BF%20%E0%A4%AC%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%9C%E0%A5%80%20%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B0%20%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A4%E0%A4%BF%20%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%20%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B7%20%E0%A4%9A%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%96%E0%A4%B0%20%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%A1%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A1%E0%A5%80%20%E0%A4%88%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%88%20%E0%A4%B9%E0%A5%88%E0%A5%A4%20%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%82%E0%A4%A6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A7%E0%A4%BF%20%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%AF%E0%A4%95%20%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%A8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A6%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%B0%20%E0%A4%95%E0%A4%BE%20%E0%A4%9F%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B0%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%9F%E0%A5%80%20%E0%A4%B8%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%AE%20%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%B8%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%BF%E0%A4%AE&amp;src=typed_query\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Twitter<\/a>, and was shared on a Facebook group called &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/756460178419917\/permalink\/870158450383422\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">We support Arnab Goswami sir<\/a>&#8216;.<\/p>\n<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-89689 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-full'><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/false-claim-of-tirupati-balaji-temple-chairman-is-christian-and-a-trustee-of-siddhi-vinayak-is-muslim-viral-on-social-media\/1-63\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"419\" height=\"479\" src=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/1.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/1.png 419w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/1-262x300.png 262w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 419px) 100vw, 419px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure><figure class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<div class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/false-claim-of-tirupati-balaji-temple-chairman-is-christian-and-a-trustee-of-siddhi-vinayak-is-muslim-viral-on-social-media\/2-53\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"510\" height=\"874\" src=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/2.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/2.png 510w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/2-175x300.png 175w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 510px) 100vw, 510px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<h4>Fact-check<\/h4>\n<p><strong>Siddhivinayak Temple<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.siddhivinayak.org\/board-of-trustees\/#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aadesh Bhandekar<\/a> is the Chairman of the Siddhivinayak Temple. There is no individual named Salim in the Board of Trustees, according to the temple&#8217;s website. Bhandekar is also associated with the Shiv Sena. He contested the Maharashtra Assembly elections <a href=\"https:\/\/myneta.info\/mh2009\/candidate.php?candidate_id=2384\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">in 2009 from the Mahim constituency<\/a> in Mumbai. Apart from this, he has worked as a Marathi actor.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-89693 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/word-image-2.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"810\" height=\"665\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/word-image-2.jpeg 810w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/word-image-2-300x246.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/word-image-2-768x631.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Bhandekar told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thelallantop.com\/factcheck\/fact-check-does-tirupathi-balaji-temple-chairman-is-christian-and-a-trustee-of-siddhi-vinayak-is-muslim-reality-of-misleading-claims\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Lallantop<\/a>, \u201cNo person named Salim is a trustee of the Board of the Siddhivinayak Temple. There is no Muslim member on our Board. This claim is completely fake. There never was a Muslim member on the Board of Trustees.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tirupati Balaji Temple<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There is nobody named &#8216;Chandrasekhar Reddy&#8217; in the list of trustees found on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tirumala.org\/TTD%20Trust%20Board.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">website<\/a>. YV Subba Reddy is the Chairman of the Tirupati Balaji Temple Board.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-89694 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/word-image-3.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"810\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/word-image-3.jpeg 810w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/word-image-3-300x166.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/word-image-3-768x425.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 810px) 100vw, 810px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>We discovered that the claim about Subba Reddy being a Christian was also circulated when he was made the Chairman of Tirupati Balaji Temple Board. On March 6, 2020, <a href=\"https:\/\/hindi.news18.com\/news\/knowledge\/who-is-yv-subba-reddy-withdraw-1300-crore-rupee-for-lord-tirupati-balaji-2918848.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">News18 reported<\/a>, &#8220;When YV Subba Reddy was made Chairman of the Tirupati Temple by Chief Minister YS Jaganmohan Reddy, there were allegations that Subba Reddy was a Christian, and therefore could not be given this post. However, Subba Reddy denied this and later clarified that he was not a Christian.&#8221; The speculation around his religious identity began when he went to the prayer meeting of a church in Tangutur.<\/p>\n<p>Madhu Kishwar, who is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/hindi\/?s=%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%A7%E0%A5%82+%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%B6%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B0+\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">known to spread misinformation on social media<\/a>, also shared the claim about Subba Reddy&#8217;s alleged Christian identity in June 2019. Following this, he shared a screenshot of an article titled, &#8220;I have been a Hindu right from my birth: Subba Reddy&#8221;. Alt News had earlier published a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/hindi\/has-cm-of-andhra-pradesh-appointed-an-evangelist-to-head-the-tirupati-temple-trust\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">fact-check report<\/a> on the false claim by Kishwar.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"und\"><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/js6GyfRwCg\">pic.twitter.com\/js6GyfRwCg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Y V Subba Reddy (@yvsubbareddymp) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/yvsubbareddymp\/status\/1138734651390828545?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 12, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The claim that a trustee of Siddhi Vinayak Temple is Muslim and the president of Tirupati Balaji Temple is Christian is completely false.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recently, a claim has been making the rounds on social media that the trustee of Mumbai&#8217;s famous Siddhivinayak Temple is a man named Salim, while the president of the Tirupati Balaji Mandir Samiti is Chandrashekhar Reddy, a Christian. Those circulating the claim are questioning why the trustees of Hindu places of worship are not Hindus. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":89762,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"an_content_type":[739],"coauthors":[664],"class_list":["post-89689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religion","fact_checks_claim_type-social-media-claims","an_content_type-fact-check"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/Untitled-design-25.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89689"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89764,"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89689\/revisions\/89764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89762"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89689"},{"taxonomy":"an_content_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/an_content_type?post=89689"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=89689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}