'Compromised on quality...': Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu alleges YSRCP govt used 'animal fat' in Tirupati laddoos

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has alleged that animal fat was used to prepare the Tirupati laddoos during the previous government led by the YSR Congress. The party, headed by Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, has dismissed these allegations as malicious.

Speaking at an NDA legislative party meeting on Wednesday, Naidu, whose Telugu Desam Party now governs Andhra Pradesh in alliance with Jana Sena and the BJP, asserted that the laddoos offered as 'prasad' at the Sri Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati were compromised under the Jagan Reddy administration. 

The temple is managed by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).

"In the past five years, YSR Congress party leaders have tarnished the sanctity of Tirumala. They compromised on the quality of 'Annadanam' (free meals) and even contaminated the sacred Tirumala laddu by using animal fat instead of ghee. This revelation has caused concern. However, we are now using pure ghee. We are striving to protect the sanctity of the TTD," Naidu stated in Telugu.

In response, senior YSR Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Y.V. Subba Reddy accused Naidu of damaging the sanctity of the Tirumala shrine. "Chandrababu Naidu has severely damaged the sanctity of Tirumala and the faith of crores of Hindus. His comments about the Tirumala prasad are extremely malicious. No person would speak such words or make such accusations," Reddy wrote in Telugu on X.

Reddy further criticized Naidu, stating, "It has been proven again that Chandrababu Naidu will stoop to any level for political gain. To strengthen the faith of the devotees, I, along with my family, am ready to take an oath before the almighty regarding the Tirumala 'prasad'. Is Chandrababu Naidu willing to do the same with his family?"