YSR Congress party chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has called on the people to take part in a pooja — religious rituals — across Andhra Pradesh this Saturday to "atone for the sin" allegedly committed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu by making allegations that animal fat was used in preparing laddoos at the Tirupati temple.
Mr Reddy's appeal comes amid a massive political storm in the state after Mr Naidu, whose TDP routed YSRCP in the recently held state polls, alleged that under the previous Jagan Reddy government, animal fat was used to make the laddoos given as 'prasad' at Sri Venkateswara Temple in Tirupati.
"YSRCP is calling for statewide rituals in temples to sanitise this sin committed by Chandrababu on Saturday, September 28," the former Chief Minister said in a post on X.
The Leader of the Opposition accused Mr Naidu of making the allegation with a "political motive".
"Though animal fat adulteration did not occur, he intentionally lied that it happened and falsely propagated that devotees ate them," he said.
Earlier, Mr Reddy had written to the Prime Minister on the issue, urging him to reprimand the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, who is also a key ally of the BJP at the Centre.
Mr Reddy said the tanker containing the possibly adulterated ghee arrived at Tirupati on July 12, but was rejected and not used to prepare prasadams. "The robust practices in place for decades in TTD could identify the questionable quality and therefore the ghee was not used. Despite this comforting scenario, Mr. Naidu chose to callously make a remark that Tirumala Laddus were made with animal fats and not with ghee," he wrote.
The YSRCP leader said Mr Naidu had, in "total disregard to strong religious sentiments and with the malafide intent to spread lies", brought the issue to light in a political party meeting on September 18, more than two months after the tanker was rejected. "The inaction of Mr. Naidu for the period of two months conveys that he did not believe that the ghee was adulterated physically with animal fats and that the finding of questionable quality was made in the process of routine checks as per the protocol."
"Sir, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu a pathological and habitual liar has stooped so low as to seriously hurt the beliefs of crores of people purely for political objectives. His actions have indeed lowered not only the stature of a Chief Minister but also that of everyone in public life and also the sanctity of the world renowned TTD and its practices. Sir, the entire Country looks to you at this crucial juncture. It is very imperative that Mr. Naidu be reprimanded in severest way for his shameless act of spreading lies and the truth be brought to light," he wrote in the letter to the Prime Minister.