Sathya Sai trustees say no difference of opinion among them

"Election of chairman may happen next week when the Trustees and Council of Management will meet.There is no will of the Baba as far as we know nor did he have his successor in mind," the trustees said at their maiden press conference at the Sathya Sai Indoor Stadium here this afternoon.

The trustees said there was no difference of opinion among them. Speaking on behalf of the Trustees and the Council of Management, former chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry Venu Srinivasan said, "The traditions that Baba established in various practices have been crystalised. The glorious traditions...We will follow in letter and spirit and maintain the same values.

"Both the Central and the AP governments have assured that they would not interfere with the Trust activities," Srinivasan said. Maintaining that the value of Trust properties was "hugely exaggerated" by the media, Srinivasan and another Trustee Naganand said the value was always subjective.

"The Trust properties are for a specific purpose. Every single piece of land owned by the Trust is for charitable purposes and the properties are not available for sale or commercial exploitation," they said.

Sathya Sai Baba died on Sunday morning after fighting illness for nearly a month caused by multi-organ failure.