Tirupati Laddu row: In response to the Tirupati Laddu controversy, Andhra Pradesh deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan attacked YV Subba Reddy and Karunakar Reddy, two former chiefs of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams, with profanity on Tuesday, claiming they may have converted to Christianity.
“During the YSRCP era, the three lions that were affixed to the chariot of Goddess Kanaka Durga on top of Indrakeeladri were stolen from the Kanaka Durga Temple. They remained silent when we questioned them. I’m not sure if Karunakar Reddy and YV Subba Reddy have become Christians.A board (TTD) was constituted under your administration, and you have accountability and responsibility for this contamination. Only after getting complaints are we bringing up these concerns,” he stated.
YV Subba Reddy, the former chairman of TTD, has petitioned the Supreme Court to establish a panel to look into claims that animal fat-laced ghee was used to make Tirupati Laddus.
Another former board chair, Bhumana Karunakar Reddy, called chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s claim that tainted ghee is being used without foundation. He said Naidu was claiming things that weren’t true because he was angry at not being able to take on former chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy politically.
In the meantime, Jagan Mohan Reddy was assailed by Swami Srinivasananda Saraswati, the president of the Andhra Pradesh Sadhu Parishad.
“YS Jagan Mohan Reddy carried out numerous ‘apcharas’ during the preceding regime. He saw the Tirumala Kshetra as a business focus. He never saw it as a place of spirituality or pilgrimage. He tarnished Lord Venkateshwara’s sacredness. He further said, “He never showed respect for Hindu sentiments.
Pawan Kalyan visited the Kanaka Durga Temple in Vijayawada on Tuesday morning to carry out a ceremony of purification.
He declared earlier this week that he would atone for the transgressions of the former administration for a period of eleven days in a post on X.
“To tell you the truth, I feel robbed from within by the malicious attempts to infuse impurity in the prasad of Sri Tirupati Balaji Dham, the center of our culture, faith, belief, and devotion. I am greatly affected on a personal level by these attempts. I’m making a commitment to fast for eleven days and to ask the Lord for forgiveness right now. I will travel to Tirupati on October 1 and 2 in the latter half of the eleven-day Atonement Initiation to have a personal darshan of the Lord and to ask for forgiveness. After that, my Atonement Initiation will be finished in front of the Lord,” Pawan Kalyan had posted on X.
Last week, CM N Chandrababu Naidu caused a stir by alleging that pig fat was being used to cook the holy prasadam at the historic temple.