Sai Baba's health sparks succession rumour

Is Sathya Sai Baba recovering? That's the question which has triggered anger and anxiety among devotees at both ashrams at Puttaparthi and Whitefield.

The devotees wonder that if the doctors claim that Sai Baba is fine, then what was preventing the latter from showing a photograph or a video of the religious leader.

However, the doctors have refused to budge, stating that shooting pictures in an Intensive Care Unit is gross violation of human rights.

The uncertainity over Sai Baba's health is now raising questions about who the potential successor to the Sathya Sai Central trust, which has assets close to Rs 40,000 crore.

Minutes after the news of Sai Baba's failing health broke out, the Andhra Pradesh government rushed a team to discuss the issue of succession. However, this team did not quite receive a warm reception from the members of the trust in Puttaparthi.

Trust members feel that the Andhra Pradesh government should not be running the ashram and the assets attached to it.

The state government did feel the heat of the resentment from the trustees and was quick to deny any takeover of the ashram. State Revenue Minister N Raghuveera Reddy said on record that there was no decision to take over the trust.

Trust members are, however, ready to make peace with one of the government team members, L V Subramanyam who is the principal secretary finance (government of Andhra Pradesh).

The government has said that Subramanyam would stay back in Puttuparthi, as he is a more acceptable face for the trustees and the devotees at the ashram.

Subramanyam is not only an ardent devotee of the Baba, but has also done his education at the Sai Baba institution in Puttaparthi.

Sources informed that no information from the hospital would be forthcoming unless and until a succession plan is put in place. There is a lot at stake at the moment and the devotees who continue to spend anxious moments at the ashrams too will have a lot of questions to ask.

Even if the trustees come to any conclusion, the successor to the trust would have to be someone acceptable to the devotees across the world. The trust has properties in Puutaparthi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, the United States -- all of which combined are worth over Rs 40,000 crore.

As of now there are two names in the succession race. There is Ratnakar Raju, who is Baba's nephew, and Chakravarthi, a retired IAS officer. Both are members of the trust.

Baba's family, which has a say in the affairs of the trust, continues to back Ratnakar. However, Chakravarthi has the support of the majority of the trust members.

While a majority of the trustees feel that a democratic process should be in place, which would mean that Chakravarthi would have the edge over Ratnakar, the devotees seem more inclined towards a member of the family headling the trust.

While Chakravarthi enjoys the support of the trustees, the devotees have an axe to grind against him. There have been complaints that he kept Baba away from the common man and once he took over as the secretary of the trust. Besides, he has had a battle with the members of the Sai Baba family.

When Sai Baba's brother Janakiram was alive and a member of the trust he interacted a lot with the villagers around Puttaparthi and often took them directly to Baba in order to solve their problems. However, after Janakiram's death, Chakravarthi became the more powerful member in the trust and imposed a lot of restrictions on the devotees.

Sources in the ashram point out that Baba has not named any successor. Prophecy has it that Baba would leave his body at the age of 96 and would be reincarnated as Prema Sai Baba, who would be born in a small village near Mandya in Karnataka. This was mentioned by Baba himself during a discourse in the year 2003. However, he has not identified Prema Sai Baba