Tirupati laddu row: On 11-day penance, Pawan Kalyan takes ‘Christian’ dig at ex-TTD chiefs

Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, who has minced no words in calling out the alleged adulteration of the laddu prasadam at the Tirupati temple, has now directed his barbs at two former chiefs of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the temple’s administrative body.

‘Are ex-TTD chiefs Christians?’

Alleging that three lion statues were stolen from the Kanaka Durga Temple during the YSRCP regime, the Jana Sena chief asked Subba Reddy and Karunakar Reddy, the former TTD heads, if they have converted to Christianity and those to be silent on similar irregularities concerning temples.

“The three lions (attached to the chariot of Goddess Kanaka Durga atop Indrakeeladri) were looted from the Kanaka Durga Temple during the YSRCP regime. When we questioned them, we were met with silence. I don’t know whether YV Subba Reddy and Karunakar Reddy have converted to Christianity…under your regime, a board (TTD) was established, and you are responsible and accountable for this contamination. We are raising these questions only after receiving reports,” he said

Kalyan on Tuesday (September 24) was at the Kanaka Durga temple in Vijayawada to undergo a purification ritual, as part of his 11-day penance to propitiate the deity amid the Tirupati laddu controversy. 

Dig at Jagan?

The Christianity jibe at the former temple administrators was an indirect dig at former chief minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, a Christian himself, who during his rule was frequently targeted by the then Opposition for allegedly allowing the desecration and vandalism of temples as well as conversions.

Incidentally, in the wake of the laddu controversy, Subba Reddy has moved the Supreme, praying for the constitution of a committee to probe the allegations that the prasadam was made with adulterated ingredients including animal fat instead of ghee.

The allegations which have snowballed into a major controversy now, were first made by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

Karunakar Reddy, on the other hand, has outright rejected Naidu’s charges, calling them false claims which the latter was making due to “frustration” for not being able to politically confront Jagan.

Pawan Kalyan’s atonement vow

Kalyan who has taken a vow to atone for the alleged sins of the YSRCP government, began his 11-day penance on Sunday. 

“I am deeply hurt on a personal level by the malicious attempts made to infuse impurity in the prasad of Sri Tirupati Balaji Dham, the center of our culture, faith, belief and devotion, and to tell you the truth, I feel cheated from within. I pray to Lord Venkateswara to give us and all Sanatanis strength in this moment of grief with his causeless grace,” he said in a post on X.

He had said that he will visit the Tirupati temple and beg the deity for forgiveness on the completion of his 11-day vow.

“Right now, I am taking a vow to seek forgiveness from the Lord and am taking a vow to fast for eleven days. In the latter part of the eleven-day Atonement Initiation, on October 1 and 2, I will go to Tirupati and have a personal darshan of the Lord and beg for forgiveness and then my Atonement Initiation will be completed in front of the Lord,” the post read.