Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday welcomed the Supreme Court constituting a Special Investigation Team to probe allegations of animal fat in Tirupati laddus, even as YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy attacked Naidu, accusing him of spreading lies and demanded that he should apologiseto people.
Soon after the apex court order, Naidu said in a post on ‘X’: “I welcome the Honourable Supreme Court’s order of setting up SIT, comprising officers from CBI, AP Police and FSSAI to investigate the issue of adulteration of Tirupati laddu. Satyameva Jayate. Om Namo Venkatesaya.”
However, Jagan Mohan Reddy claimed that the apex court has reprimanded Naidu by cancelling the SIT formed by the Andhra chief minister.
Earlier, the Supreme Court constituted an independent SIT that will have 2 officials each from the CBI and the Andhra Pradesh police besides a senior FSSAI official. The court said the probe by the SIT will be supervised by the CBI Director.
Naidu’s government had days ago appointed a SIT to look into the allegations of laddu adulteration. It is now infructuous following the top court forming an independent team.
Jagan said Naidu should apologise to people for misleading them.
The former CM said the Supreme Court has exposed Naidu’s ‘true picture,’ by ‘cancelling’ the SIT appointed by him. Further, he alleged that Naidu provoked religious sentiments for malafide political intent and had been spreading lies.
When the Supreme Court has passed such comments, if Naidu has any devotion towards God, he should apologise to people, Jagan said.
“He should pray to Tirumala Venkateswara Swamy that he committed a mistake. He has not done any of it but on top of that they (TDP) are (spreading false information) releasing posts through their twitter handle,” Jagan alleged.
In a press conference, Jagan alleged: “He (Naidu) does not have devotion or care about God. He can even use the Almighty for political gains. I am praying to God that this sin (Naidu’s acts) should not fall on the people of Andhra Pradesh. It should be confined to the CM only and to the alliance that is carrying the burden of Naidu.”
Giving the chronological order of the events at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the former chief minister said, the laddu adulteration allegations were aimed at political mileage, and they would degrade temples and prasadam.
According to him, during the previous regime, the ghee was rejected 18 times due to quality issues, while between 2014 and 2019, during Chandrababau Naidu’s rule, the tankers were returned 14 times.The TTD executive officer who was handpicked by Naidu himself said that the adulterated ghee was never used in making laddu prasadam. “Venkateswara Swamy knows how to punish these people,” he said.
The Supreme Court has made strong comments on Naidu as it understood that Gods should not be dragged into politics, Jagan said.
AP Congress chief YS Sharmila in a social media post said her party is welcoming the Supreme Court’s direction of appointing a SIT. “We are confident that this positive development will accelerate the process of fair and transparent investigation, and bring out the truth on laddu adulteration,” she said.
TDP spokesperson Pattabhiram Kommareddy said the state government’s intention is to bring out the truth and punish culprits who played with the sentiments of crores of devotees of Lord Venkatweswara Swamy.
“We welcome the Supreme Court’s direction. We don’t have any issue with it. Crores of Hindus across the globe are demanding to put those people (culprits) behind the bars and give them the stringent punishment because they have played with their sentiments,” the TDP spokesperson told PTI.
Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan also welcomed the court’s direction.
On Friday, Andhra CM Naidu offered “Pattu Vastralu” (silk robes) on behalf of the state government, to Lord Venkateswara Swamy on Tirumala Hills, as part of the nine-day annual Brahmotsavams.
During a NDA legislative party meeting in the southern state last month, Chandrababu Naidu had alleged that the erstwhile YSRCP government did not even spare Sri Venkateswara temple and used substandard ingredients and animal fats for making laddus, which are revered and sought after by crores of devotees. The allegations sparked a massive controversy across the country, hurting the sentiments of crores of Hindus.
