Tirupati laddu controversy: Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy accused the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) of “politicising religious matters” on Friday, in response to allegations that the Tirupati Laddu Prasadam contains animal fat.
Chandrababu Naidu had accused the previous YSR Congress-led government of using animal fat in the laddus at the Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati. In response, Jaganmohan Reddy clarified, “The tender process occurs every six months, and the qualification criteria has not changed for decades. Suppliers must provide an NABL certificate and a product quality certificate. TTD collects samples from the ghee, and only products that pass certification are used. TDP is politicising religious matters. We have rejected the products in our regime 18 times,” Jaganmohan Reddy said, ANI reported.
Meanwhile, Tirumala Tirupathi Devastanam (TTD) executive officer Shamala Rao confirmed that there were concerns about the quality of the prasadam. Under CM Naidu’s orders, a lab test was conducted to address the issue.
When the executive officer of TTD assumed their role, the Chief Minister expressed concerns about the quality of ghee used for the laddus, which are deemed sacred and offered as ‘Prasadam’ to Lord Venkateswara Swamy.
Any compromise in quality could result in ‘apavithram’—a state of being unclean. The Chief Minister directed the officer to ensure the temple’s sanctity was preserved, including sourcing pure cow milk ghee. Upon review, the officer found there was no internal lab for testing adulteration and no reliable system for checking ghee quality through external labs.
The prices quoted by suppliers raised suspicion, indicating that pure cow ghee could not be that inexpensive. The officer warned that suppliers would be blacklisted if their ghee failed lab tests. Samples were sent to a top government-controlled lab, and the results were alarming.
Earlier, Andhra Pradesh Minister Nara Lokesh shared a video in which Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu alleged that animal fat had been used in the sacred Tirupati Prasadam instead of ghee at the Sri Venkateswara temple.
In a post on X, Nara Lokesh expressed his shock at these revelations, stating, “The Lord Venkateswara Swamy Temple at Tirumala is our most sacred temple. I am shocked to learn that the YS Jagan administration used animal fat instead of ghee in the Tirupati Prasadam.” “Shame on YS Jagan and the YSR party government that couldn’t respect the religious sentiments of crores of devotees,” he added.
These allegations were categorically denied by YV Subbareddy, former TDP chairman and YSRCP leader, who asserted that only organic ingredients have been used in the preparation of Prasadam.
“All the ingredients used for Swami’s offerings from the last three years are all organic ingredients, including ghee. This is a very vile allegation that our government and our party, which have done so many programs while protecting the sanctity of Swami, are doing so many programs to mislead the people,” he said.
(With ANI Inputs)