Andhra Pradesh minister for finance, Payyavula Keshav, on Wednesday, asked former chief minister and YSR Congress president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to stop politicizing the Tirupati laddu issue. Speaking to media at Velagapudi secretariat on the day, Keshav alleged that the Laddu was desecrated during YSR Congress regime.
The finance minister said that contaminated ghee was supplied to Tirumala Tirupati Devastanams (TTD) during the YSR Congress regime. The laddus were prepared with the contaminated ghee, he said. There was mix of animal fat in the ghee, he said.
The TTD had no laboratory to test the contents of the ghee, he said. He further added that the laboratories at Tirumala were only to check the quality of the ghee and not its contents. So the TTD had used the contaminated ghee to prepare the laddu for the past five years, he said.
Now that the new government had come into place, the officials have noticed this contaminated ghee, he said. The ghee was sent to National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) where the animal fat was found in the ghee. The ghee was sent back and not used for the preparation of laddu, he said.
He wanted Jagan Mohan Reddy to go and ask the devotees to talk about the difference of taste of the laddu now from the last year. He said that the devotees would speak for themselves how the laddu tasted in the last five years and how it tastes now.
He advised Jagan Mohan Reddy to accept his failure to maintain quality of the laddu. It was a crime on the part of Jagan Mohan Reddy, the finance minister said. He said that the YSR Congress leaders have committed the crime of supplying the laddu with animal fat, he said.
Keshav also advised Jagan Mohan Reddy to stop politicizing the laddu issue. He took strong exception to the YSR Congress leaders giving a call to the people to worship at the temples on September 28. He said that the worshiping at the temples by the YSR Congress leaders was nothing but a political drama.
