Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Sept 19: A huge political row has broken out in Andhra Pradesh over the chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu quoting laboratory reports to claim that the ghee used to prepare “prasadam” at the famous Tirupati temple contained animal fat during the tenure of the previous YSR Congress Party government headed by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
The YSRCP lashed out at the chief minister for making these accusations. The party said this has undermined the deity and hurt the sentiments of the devotees. Senior party leader and former Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) chairman YV Subba Reddy termed Naidu’s allegation as “malicious” and said the TDP supremo would “stoop to any level for political gains.” He noted that Naidu’s allegations have undermined the hallowed nature of the deity and hurt the sentiments of the devotees.
“It is unimaginable to even say that animal fat was used in the consecrated food offered to the deity and the laddus given to devotees. There is no other heinous attempt than alleging that animal fat was being used,” he said.
The row erupted after Mr Naidu at his party meeting on Thursday slammed his predecessor over a lab report about animal fats in ghee used to make laddoos offered as prasadam, the devotional offerings, at the temple town of Tirupati.
A July 17 report from the Centre of Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food, (CALF), lab at the centre-run National Dairy Development Board in Gujarat, released on Wednesday, said it found animal fat in ghee used to make the famous Tirupati laddoos when the YSRCP was in power. The report indicated the ghee contained traces of fish oil, beef tallow, and lard; the last is a semi-solid white fat product obtained by rendering the fatty tissue of a pig.
“Even Tirupati laddoo was made with substandard ingredients… they used animal fat instead of ghee,” the Chief Minister raged at a legislature party meeting in Amravati. He declared his government has ensured a higher quality of ingredients, including ghee, is being used now, and that all food offerings at the iconic temple were now of improved quality.
Mr Naidu’s son and Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh also joined the attack. “The Lord Venkateswara Temple at Tirumala is our most sacred temple. I am shocked to learn that the Jagan Mohan Reddy administration used animal fat instead of ghee… shame on them… (their) government could not respect the religious sentiments of crores of devotees.”
Union Minister Ram Mohan Naidu, who is from the TDP, said “we always knew YSRCP was involved in corruption… but didn’t think they would do this with Tirupati.” “The deity is sacred and special to all in the state… and now NDDB itself has confirmed presence of animal fat. This is beyond shocking and disgusting. The government will get to the bottom of this,” he said, vowing action against those responsible. “We know this is the beginning. More will come out.”
The YSRCP, however, has slammed the “malicious” claims and accused the TDP of lying for political gain. The party also said it was Mr Naidu, in fact, who had damaged the sanctity of the temple, and of the crores of devotees, by making such outrageous comments.
Mr Reddy wrote in Telugu on X that “it has been proved once again that Chandrababu (Naidu) will not hesitate to do anything bad for the benefit of politics”. The YSRCP leader also declared himself ready “to take an oath as witnesses… in (this) case” and asked, “Is he also ready to take oath?”
“I believe in Venkateswara Swamy and you (Naidu) claim to be a devotee too, so, come let’s swear before the deity. I am ready to take an oath before the deity. I will come and swear along with my family,” he said, demanding Naidu if he stands by his allegations.
Earlier, senior YSRCP leader B Karunakar Reddy said Naidu levelled allegations on the quality of famous Tirupati laddus only to derive political mileage. The leader, who twice served as the chairman of TTD, alleged that Naidu’s claims that Tirupati laddus were laced with animal fat during YSRCP regime was aimed at politically targeting the opposition party and its chief and former CM Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.
“To attack YSRCP, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and the previous government (YSRCP), he (Naidu) made heinous allegations that animal fat was used in making Swamy’s (deity) laddus. It is a deplorable experiment,” he told local media. He termed these allegations as ‘unjustified, horrendous and sacrilegious’. Claiming that Naidu’s allegations were aimed at deriving political mileage, he added that the deity “will take action against Naidu and his family.”
The Congress, meanwhile, has also taken shots at the YSR Congress, with the former Chief Minister’s sister YS Sharmila, now the boss of the Congress’ state unit, demanding a high-level CBI inquiry. The claim, she said in Telugu on X, is damaging to the sanctity of the deity worshipped by millions of Hindus.” She assailed the CM and YSRCP for indulging in “heinous politics” over the preparation of Tirupati laddus. She said Naidu’s allegations hurt the sentiments of crores of Hindus who consider Venkateswara as a revered deity. “Immediately constitute a high-level committee or investigate with the CBI whether animal fat was used instead of ghee,” said Sharmila in a press release.
“If there are no political angles to your allegations… if you have no intention of playing politics on this issue… form a high-level committee or call for a CBI inquiry. Find out who is responsible,” she said. “The Congress demands you find out the truth,” she declared.
An estimated three lakh laddoos are made in Tirupati every day. To make these the temple trust buys massive quantities of ghee via e-tenders issued every six months.
Amid the raging controversy, the Karnataka Milk Federation on Thursday said it has supplied Nandini ghee to the TTD, the board that manages the hill shrine — only after the regime change in the state and not during the previous government’s tenure. It issued a statement even though Naidu did not mention the federation.
This is not the first time questions have been raised on the prasadam distributed at the Tirumala temple. The TDP has, in the past, harshly criticised the alleged severe compromise in its quality. Over the years, there were no procedures at the TTD to test the cheese quality from which ghee is made for the Srivari laddus. But, the board has now set up a new sensory perception laboratory, where staff is being trained to carry out quality checks in Mysuru.