VIJAYAWADA: Strongly refuting charges of diluting the sanctity of Tirumala Srivari prasadam, former chief minister and YSRC president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday accused TDP supremo and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu of playing with God and sentiments of devotees for diverting public attention from his failure to implement election promises even after completing 100 days in office.
Addressing a press conference at the party office in Tadepalli, Jagan questioned, “Is it fair for a man in the Chief Minister’s position to allege that adulterated ghee and animal fat were used in preparing Srivari Laddus? He’s not even leaving God for his politics as he’s afraid that people may pull him up for failing to implement his Super Six guarantees.”
Jagan said he will send letters to the Prime Minister and Chief Justice of India seeking action against Naidu for seeking to tarnish the image of the State and Srivari temple for his political purposes.
Explaining that there was no scope for using animal fats or adulterated ghee in Tirumala, the former chief minister said procurement of ghee is a routine process that is being followed for decades.
Is it dharma to peddle lies and sling mud at people? Jagan
“Tenders are invited every six months. Whoever wins the bid, the TTD Trust Board gives approval. No changes were made in the process during the YSRC regime from 2019 to 2024. The TTD has a robust process in place. Whoever is the supplier, they need to produce quality certificate from a lab accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Laboratories (NABL),” he said, adding that three samples are taken from the tankers and three tests are conducted to test the quality.
The ghee is used only after this process and if, the quality was found to be sub-standard, the tanker will be sent back, he explained.
“When this is the process, is it just or fair to claim that adulterated ghee or poor quality ingredients were used? Is it not a lie? During Naidu’s government from 2014 to 2019, ghee and other components were rejected about 15 times and under YSRC regime, tankers were sent back 18 times because the quality was poor,” he pointed out. Terming it unfortunate, he observed that it was outrageous to blatantly lie instead of publicising the great systems in place at Tirumala. Referring to the NDDB report in circulation, Jagan pointed out that samples were taken for testing on July 12, almost a month after Naidu assumed office.
“The samples were sent to NDDB after the three tests in Tirumala. The NDDB report came on July 23. What has Naidu been doing since then? Why was the report hidden till now? No officer had spoken about it. The report was disclosed at the TDP office,” Jagan said.
Further elaborating on the report, he pointed at the exceptions cited in the same. “A false positive could come if cows are not fed properly or overly fed on certain produce.” Jagan blasted the TDP and the Chief Minister for “spreading canards that adulterated ghee was used, and such Laddus were distributed to devotees.”
“They are actually demeaning the Lord. Can there be anything worse than this? People should think for themselves. Further, they claim that YSRC government did not award the contract to Nandini of the Karnataka Milk Producers’ Federation, he said and asked, why was the same Nandini not given the contract from 2015 to 2018 October when the TDP was in power.
Jagan went on to stress that his government during its tenure had done much work through the TTD. “We modernised the lab in TTD with the help of Central Food Technology and Research Institute. Cabinet formation is easier than constituting the TTD board. There will be recommendations from chief ministers of neighbouring States and Central Ministers. Trust board always has people whose sole job is to serve the Lord. They approve contracts. YSRC MP YV Subba Reddy, who served as TTD chairman, undertook Ayyappa Deeksha 45 times. Will there be a better person than him to be on the Trust board?” he asked. Jagan said it was possible only for Naidu to sling mud at even the TTD and politicise the divine.