Tirupati, Oct 2 (IANS): Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan’s daughter Polena Anjani gave a declaration of faith before entering Tirumala temple with him.
As she is a minor, Pawan Kalyan signed the declaration along with her.
The officials of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) brought the declaration before Pawan Kalyan stepped into Sri Venkateswara temple along with his daughters Aadya and Polena Anjani.
Polena is Pawan’s daughter from his third wife Anna Lezhneva and Aadya is from his second wife Renu Desai.
The actor-politician, who reached the hill shrine on foot from Alipiri, will do his 11-day ‘Praschit Deeksha’ (penance) for alleged adulteration of animal fat in Tirupati laddu after darshan.
Clad in saffron clothes, the Jana Sena leader had started his journey on foot from Alipiri on Tuesday evening.
The signing of the declaration by Pawan Kalyan’s daughter comes in the wake of the recent controversy over the demand by his Jana Sena party and its ruling partners Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that former Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy sign the declaration of faith before entering the temple.
Jagan Mohan Reddy, who was scheduled to visit the temple on September 27 amid the controversy over alleged adulteration of Tirupati laddu, had to drop his plans after police issued notices to local leaders of YSR Congress Party saying there is no permission for Jagan Mohan Reddy’s visit.
The YSR Congress chief accused TDP and its allies of trying to divert the issue by demanding a declaration of faith as their ‘lies’ on the adulteration of laddu prasadam during YSR Congress rule stand exposed. He mentioned that he was never asked for a declaration when he visited the temple before and after becoming the chief minister.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu demanded that Jagan respect the traditions and rules of the temple by giving a declaration of faith in Sri Venkateswara Swamy. He recalled that Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and former President of India A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had signed the declarations while visiting the temple.