Tirupati laddu row: Suits BJP to allow polarising conspiracy theories, says Congress

The Congress on Friday, 20 September, said if claims of “desecration” of the Tirupati laddu are right, a full-fledged enquiry must identify the guilty.

However, if Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu‘s claims are wrong or “motivated”, millions of Tirupati devotees will not forgive those playing with their faith, the party added.

Naidu's claim that other animal fats were used in Tirupati laddus under the previous government has triggered a massive political row, with the YSRCP accusing Naidu of indulging in “heinous allegations” for political gains and the TDP circulating a lab report to back its claim.

During an NDA legislative party meeting on Wednesday, 18 September, Naidu claimed that the previous Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government did not even spare the Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirupati and used substandard ingredients and various animal fats to make laddus.

In a post on X, the Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said, ‘If the claims of desecration of the Tirupati laddoos are right, of course a full-fledged enquiry must identify the guilty and strictest possible punishment must be meted out...

‘...but, if the claims are wrong or motivated, then millions of devotees of Tirupati will not forgive those playing with their faith.’

‘Until then, it suits the BJP to allow polarising conspiracy theories to fly thick in the air in election season,’ he said.

TDP spokesperson Anam Venkata Ramana Reddy claimed at a press conference that a Gujarat-based livestock laboratory has confirmed adulteration in the ghee samples that were provided by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the famous Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple.

He displayed the purported lab report, which suggest the possible presence of beef tallow, lard and fish oil in the samples.

The sample receipt date was 9 July 2024 and the lab report was dated 16 July.

Reacting to the development, Andhra Pradesh IT minister Nara Lokesh noted that the lab report clearly established that beef fat, fish oil and lard were used to make the laddus.

Senior YSRCP leader and former TTD chairman B. Karunakar Reddy charged that Naidu was making sacrilegious allegations over the Tirupati laddus for political mileage.