Amaravati, Sep 19 (IANS): Day after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu accused the previous YSRCP government of using animal fat in making the Tirupati laddu, Social Welfare Minister Dola Sree Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy said that a comprehensive inquiry will be conducted into irregularities in Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD).
The minister told media persons that the Chief Minister repeated what the officials have already stated on the quality of ingredients used in making laddu, also known as Tirumala laddu.
CM Naidu in a TDP meeting on Wednesday claimed that during the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) rule, the laddu used to be made with substandard ingredients.
The famous sweet is given as 'prasadam' to the devotees at the famous Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati, which is run by TTD, a body nominated by the state government.
He accused YSRCP leaders of tarnishing the sanctity of the hill shrine. “They compromised on the quality of 'Annadanam' (free meals) and even contaminated the sacred Tirumala Laddu by using animal fat instead of ghee,” he said but added that after the change of government laddu is being made with pure ghee.
Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy remarked that the sins of former Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy were coming to light one after the other.
Meanwhile, former member of TTD Governing Council O.V. Ramana said it was a fact that substandard ghee was used in making the laddu.
He told a news conference in Tirupati that quality cow ghee for the laddu was being procured in the past from a milk cooperative body of the Karnataka government.
He alleged that former Executive Officer Dharma Reddy awarded the contract for the supply of ghee to traders of his choice. He said the tender was awarded to a Delhi-based company, which was supplying ghee mixed with chemicals.
Ramana said that Jagan Mohan Reddy was paying for the mistakes of Y. V. Subba Reddy, Bhumana Karunakar Reddy and Dharma Reddy.
Subba Reddy, a Rajya Sabha MP of YSRCP and former TTD chairman denied the allegation made by Naidu. He termed the allegation "malicious" and said that the TDP supremo would never ‘stoop to any level for political gain’.
Subba Reddy, who is the uncle of Jagan Mohan Reddy, said CM Naidu had severely damaged the sanctity of the Tirumala temple and the faith of crores of Hindus with his remarks.
On September 4, TTD Executive Officer (EO) J. Syamala Rao announced that TTD is now procuring quality ghee from Nandini ghee from the Karnataka Cooperative Milk Producers Federation Limited
He said focus was laid on improving the taste and quality of Laddu prasadam taking the experts’ opinion. “The experts also stated that the quality of ghee has a major role to play in deciding the taste of Srivari laddus. TTD did not have proper labs and private labs did not properly test ghee quality. Hence TTD has set up a new laboratory for Sensory perception to assess the quality of ghee and its staff are being trained at Mysore,” said Syamala Rao.
The EO also said that a four-member experts committee has been set up to speed up the purchase of quality ghee and based on its guidelines and recommendations, tenders have been called for and the tenderers were also given clear instructions that there will not be any compromise on the quality of ghee and serious action will be taken if they have provided adulterated ghee. The bidders were told that they had to follow “sensory parameters. “With all these new guidelines, some old tenderers who supplied adulterated ghee earlier have not even participated”, he said.
Meanwhile, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) national spokesperson Vinod Bansal has demanded punishment for those who used animal fat in Tirupati Laddu.
He posted on ‘X’ that everybody knows about the “anti-Hindu acts and deeds” of the previous YSRCP government but nobody could expect that it may stoop to this level. “Tirupati Balaji Prasad Laddu which is a blessing for crores of Hindus globally, may contain animal fat. This very serious issue, raised by none other than the present Chief Minister Shri Chandrababu Naidu,” he wrote.
“Needs quick stern action against the culprits. It must also be ensured that the things do not occur anywhere in the state,” Vinod Bansal added.
BJP leader and former TTD member Bhanu Prakash Reddy said that the YSRCP government deliberately compromised the quality of the laddu for the sake of commission. He told a press conference in Tirupati that the report of the expert committee brought out adulteration in ghee. He said a vigilance report into the matter will soon bring out more facts.
State Congress president Y. S. Sharmila Reddy said on Thursday that both TDP and YSRCP were doing cheap politics, hurting the sentiments of Hindus by tarnishing the sanctity of Tirumala. She posted on ‘X’ that CM Chandrababu Naidu’s remarks amounted to tarnishing the sanctity and reputation of Tirumala.
Sharmila Reddy, who is the sister of Jagan Mohan Reddy, said that if there is no political angle in Chandrababu Naidu’s allegation and if he does not intend to do politics over sentiments, he should immediately constitute a high-level committee or order a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).