Tirupati row: Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu flags 'conspiracy angle', claims '20 crore laddus' made with adulterated ghee

NEW DELHI: Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday attacked the previous YSRCP government under Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy alleging that nearly 60 lakh kg of "adulterated ghee" was used between 2019 and 2024 to prepare more than 20 crore consecrated Tirupati laddus.

Naidu made the remarks during a special discussion in the Andhra Pradesh assembly on the alleged adulteration of ghee used in preparing the sacred laddu prasadam of Lord Venkateswara Swamy at Tirumala.

Participating in the debate on the alleged "sacrilege of the holy laddu prasadam of Lord Venkateswara Swamy," Naidu claimed that the supply of adulterated ghee was part of an organised conspiracy.

"There was a conspiracy angle in the adulterated ghee supply issue. They (perpetrators) became a syndicate. All these are proved in the forensic evidence," he said in the House.

"As much as 59.71 lakh kg of ghee supplied to TTD was adulterated. Between 2019 and 2024, over 20 crore laddus were made using adulterated ghee," he added.

He noted that the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which manages the renowned hill shrine, spent about Rs 234.51 crore to procure the ghee in question.

"They (the previous regime) committed sacrilege by adulterating the laddu (sacred sweet) in an organised crime," Naidu alleged.

Naidu further claimed that several attacks on temples occurred during Reddy's tenure between 2019 and 2024. He said his remarks on the adulterated ghee were based on findings in an earlier NDDB report.

Endowments minister A Ramnarayan Reddy initiated the discussion in the Assembly, expressing concern over the controversy surrounding the temple offering.

Addressing the House, he said, "It is sad that a situation arose to explain the purity of the sacred temple prasadam (offering)." He added that the alleged adulteration of the laddu prasadam had caused distress among devotees.

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