Amaravati, Sep 26 (IANS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Jana Sena Party (JSP) on Thursday demanded that former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy should give a declaration of his faith before entering Tirumala temple.
Day after the YSR Congress Party president announced his plans to visit Sri Venkateswara temple on Saturday, both the BJP and JSP said he should give the declaration before entering the temple.
BJP state president and MP Daggubati Purandeswari posted on the social media platform 'X' that the practice of declaring one's faith has been in vogue for decades in Tirumala.
"As per G.O. MS NO- 311 of AP Revenue Endowments--1, Rule no 16, Non-Hindus must give a declaration at Vaikuntam queue complex before darshan in the faith form. This is also as per TTD general regulations Rule 136," she said.
"BJP demands that even before Jagan Mohan Reddy begins mounting Tirumala he should give the declaration of his faith at the Garuda statue itself at Alipiri," Purandeswari added.
BJP MLA from Telangana Raja Singh has said that Jagan Mohan Reddy should think twice before visiting the Tirupati temple as he was responsible for "tarnishing" the sanctity of the Tirumala temple by using ghee adulterated with animal fat by making laddu 'prasadam'.
"Don't you have shame to go for darshan after committing such a grave sin," asked Raja Singh.
He said adulteration of ghee used for sacred 'prasadam' has hurt the religious sentiments of devotees.
Raja Singh also demanded that non-Hindu working in Hindu temples should be removed from jobs.
Jana Sena has also asked Jagan Mohan Reddy to clarify if he would sign the faith declaration before visiting the Tirumala. It also asked him if he would seek forgiveness for appointing those belonging to other faiths as chairpersons of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD).
Jana Sena has also asked the YSRCP president if he would offer penance for making crores of devotees eat "non-veg" laddu.
Amid the raging controversy over alleged adulteration of laddu, Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday decided to visit Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple on September 28 while YSRCP has called for puja in temples across the state the same day to "restore the sanctity" of Tirumala temple.
Accusing Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu of "tarnishing" the sanctity of Tirumala temple by making baseless allegations of adulteration of laddu prasadam, the YSRCP has called for puja in temples across the state.
Recently, CM Naidu alleged that during the YSRCP rule, ghee used for making laddu 'prasadam' of the famous hill shrine had animal fat.
The YSRCP has denied the allegations and accused CM Naidu of "hurting" the sentiments of millions of devotees.
CM Naidu had also questioned Jagan Mohan Reddy whether he signed an affidavit saying that he was a believer of Lord Venkateswara before visiting Tirumala temple.
The Chief Minister recalled that former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former President A. P. J. Abdul Kalam had signed such affidavits while visiting the temple.