INDIA, April 07, 2011 (rediff.com): Is Sathya Sai Baba recovering? That’s the question which has triggered anger and anxiety among devotees at both ashrams at Puttaparthi and Whitefield.
According to this report here
from four days ago, “Sai Baba, the 85-year-old wild-haired spiritual leader with a following of millions across the world, is in a critical state suffering from multiple problems including a heart condition, lung congestion and kidney failure. ‘Baba is a frail person and he is suffering from multiple organ failure,’ doctor A.N. Safaya, director of the Sri Satya Sai Institute of Higher Medical Sciences, told reporters at a press conference. ‘We pray to Baba to heal himself and come out of this difficult situation,’ he said, adding that 27 doctors were attending to him in the institute.”
But doctors have since said that Sai Baba’s condition has improved.
The uncertainty 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 US$ 8 billion.
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.
Two possible names in the succession race are 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.
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.