Tirupati laddu row: Jagan hits back; says will initiate ‘sanitising’ rituals for Naidu’s ‘sins’

As the Tirupati laddu controversy continues to simmer, YSRCP chief YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has now given a call to people to take part in 'sanitising' rituals in temples.

In a post on X on Wednesday (September 25), Jagan said the temple rituals will be initiated on September 28 to seek forgiveness and atone for the "sin" allegedly committed by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for alleging that the laddus offered as prasadam at the Tirupati temple were made with adulterated ingredients including animal fat during the YSRCP leader’s rule.

Jagan’s party was ousted from power in the Andhra Assembly elections earlier this year.

Stirring up a storm

Jagan’s appeal comes days after Naidu stirred up a storm when he alleged during a NDA legislative party meeting that the previous YSRCP government did not even spare Sri Venkateswara temple and used substandard ingredients and animal fat for making laddus.

The allegations sparked a massive controversy across the country.

“YSRCP is calling for state-wide rituals in temples to sanitise (undo) this sin committed by Chandrababu on Saturday, September 28,” said the former chief minister in a post on X.

This move by Jagan is being described by political observers as "desperate". Earlier too, after the allegations surfaced, the former Andhra chief minister dashed off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi urging him to "rebuke" Naidu, who he described as a "pathological, habitual liar".

Jagan’s decision to hold the “forgiveness” rituals also comes after Andhra's Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan embarked on an 11-day temple purification spree.

Pawan Kalyan's 11-day penance

Pawan Kalyan has announced that he will do a 11-day penance to propitiate the deity over the alleged laddu sacrilege.

On September 24, in fact, Kalyan performed a purification ritual at Kanaka Durga Temple in Vijayawada, as part of his 11-day 'Prayaschitta Diksha'. The ritual is being performed to atone for the use of animal fat in the Tirupati temple's laddu prasad.

The actor turned politician said he is "deeply hurt" on a personal level by the "malicious attempts made to infuse impurity in the prasad of Sri Tirupati Balaji Dham, the centre of our culture, faith, belief and devotion, and to tell you the truth, I feel cheated from within".

Political motive

Meanwhile, Opposition leader, Jagan Mohan Reddy accused Naidu of harbouring a "political motive" for making the allegation that animal fat was mixed with ghee to make laddu prasadam in Tiupati temple.

“Though animal fat adulteration did not occur, he intentionally lied that it happened and falsely propagated that devotees ate them,” he said.

(With inputs from agencies)