YSRCP chief and former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday broke silence for the first time on Tirupati laddu row and said the qualification criteria for the prasadam has not changed for decades and the suppliers must provide an NABL certificate and a product quality certificate. Jagan also alleged that only Chandrababu Naidu has the mentality to use God for politics. he said the ghee adulteration allegations are to divert the attention from Chandrababu Naidu's 100-day rule in AP.
Jagan counteracts Chandrababu Naidu
Jagan further stated that Andhra CM Naidu is such a person who can use God also for political gains. Alleging that the TDP is politicising religious matters, he said the Tirumala Tirupathi Devastanam (TTD) collects samples from the ghee, and only products that pass certification are used.
"The tender process occurs every six months, and the qualification criteria have not changed for decades. Suppliers must provide an NABL certificate and a product quality certificate. TTD collects samples from the ghee, and only products that pass certification are used. TDP is politicizing religious matters. We have rejected the products in our regime 18 times," he said.
Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde on Laddu row
In the meantime, Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde on the row said, "I think there can't be any shameful act than this. Lakhs of people do darshan every day. To make the prasadam impure to earn money, I think people have shown them their place and have thrown their govt out of power. I want to ask MVA and UBT that what they think about it, I know they will say nothing..."
Earlier in the day, executive officer of Tirumala Tirupathi Devastanam (TTD) Shamala Rao said, "The report says the ghee sample is adulterated with vegetable fat and also animal fat. Animal fat adulteration includes lard (pig fat), palm oil, beef tallow, and fish oil including grape seed and linseed. The ghee sample was a concoction of all this and the result was abnormally low. Pure milk fat should have a reading between 95.68 to 104.32, but all our ghee samples had values around 20, which means the ghee supplied is highly adulterated... We started the procedure for blacklisting and also penalising the supplier. We formed an expert committee to improve ghee supplies and also to strengthen our internal system so that we don't face this problem again... We have found suppliers who have passed the tests... We have been asked by the expert committee to set up our own lab... This problem will be solved in the future."
JP Nadda seeks report
Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Nadda on Friday said he had spoken to Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and sought a report on the Tirupati laddu issue. He added that the matter would be examined by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and suitable action taken.
Naidu has claimed that animal fat was used for making Tirupati laddus during the previous Jagan Mohan Reddy government, triggering a massive political row with the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP) accusing the chief minister of indulging in "heinous allegations" for political gains and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) circulating a lab report to back the claim.
Union Food Minister Pralhad Joshi has also called for an investigation into the allegation, which has sparked concern among devotees. "Whatever the Andhra chief minister has said is a matter of serious concern. A detailed inquiry is required and the culprit should be punished," Joshi told reporters on the sidelines of a global food regulators' summit in Delhi.
