Amaravati, Sep 20 (IANS): Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan said on Friday that the state government is committed to taking stringent action against those involved in the use of ghee mixed with animal fat in Tirupathi laddu.
Amid the ongoing row over the adulteration of ghee used for making the laddu prasadam, the Deputy Chief Minister posted his reaction on X.
Reacting to a post by an organisation's Hindu IT Cell demanding action against the culprits, Pawan Kalyan assured that stringent action will be taken.
“We are all deeply disturbed by the findings of animal fat (fish oil, pork fat and beef fat )mixed in Tirupathi Balaji Prasad. Many questions to be answered by the TTD board constituted by YCP govt then. Our govt is committed to taking stringent action possible,” posted the actor-politician.
The Jana Sena leader also stated that this throws light on many issues surrounding desecration of temples, its land issues and other religious and faith-based practices. “Maybe the time has come to constitute a ‘Sanatana Dharma Rakshana Board’ at a national level to look into all the issues related to temples in entire Bharat. A debate has to happen at a national level by all the policymakers, religious heads, judiciary, citizens, media and all others in their respective domains,” he said.
“I think we all should come together to put an end to desecration of ‘Sanathana Dharma’ in any form,” he added.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had said on Thursday that action will be taken against those who committed sacrilege at Tirumala by using ghee made of unholy ingredients for making the laddu.
“Lab reports say unholy ingredients were used. We will keep an eye on those responsible for it and take action,” he said, adding that the guilty have to be punished no matter who they are.
Earlier, TDP spokesman Anam Venkata Ramana Reddy displayed a lab report before the media which showed beef tallow, lard (relating to pig fat), and fish oil were found in ghee used for the preparation of Tirupati laddu when YSR Congress Party was in power.
The test done at the Centre of Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food (CALF) at the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), Gujarat, confirms the presence of foreign fat in its ghee.