YSRCP Rajya Sabha MP Y.V. Subba Reddy on Monday filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court seeking a judicial probe into the claims made by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu that “animal fat” was used in the preparation of the famous laddu prasadam at the sacred temple of Lord Venkateswara in Tirumala during the YSRCP administration.
The move comes a day after YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking that Mr. Naidu be “reprimanded severely” for hurting the sentiments of Hindu devotees by making baseless claims.
In the PIL, Mr. Subba Reddy, who had served as Chairman of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Trust Board under the YSRCP government, said: “These allegations are not only unfounded but have hurt the religious sentiments of millions of devotees who revere the Tirumala temple and its sacred offerings. An investigation is necessary to establish the truth. The apex court was requested to appoint a retired judge to conduct an independent inquiry into the Chief Minister’s claims. Also, a committee consisting of food technology experts needs to be constituted to assist in verifying the quality of the ghee used for laddu preparation.”
“In July 2024, TTD Executive Officer J. Syamala Rao, soon after assuming office, said that he had ordered a quality inspection of the Tirumala laddu and the ghee used in its preparation. The quality of the laddu was found to be good and high-standard ghee was used in its preparation. On July 9, 2024, the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and the Centre for Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food (CALF) in Gujarat were asked to test the quality of the ghee supplied to TTD. On July 17, NDDB and CALF submitted their report, confirming the presence of vegetable fat in the ghee. On July 23, the EO, referring to the report, told the media that vegetable fat was found in the ghee. The TTD officials have maintained that strict quality control procedures are in place. Every tanker of ghee supplied to the temple is tested for purity, and only after passing rigorous quality checks is it used for laddu preparation. In fact, the TTD EO had recently clarified that the ghee that failed the quality test was never used, and tankers were sent back,” Mr. Subba Reddy said, adding that Mr. Naidu went a step further to allege that ghee made from animal fat was used in the preparation of the laddu prasadam.
Published - September 23, 2024 08:10 pm IST
