'Has Hurt Sentiments...': Ram Mandir Chief Priest on Tirupati Laddus Row

New Delhi: In the latest developments related to the Tirupati Laddu controversy, Ram Janmabhoomi Chief Priest Acharya Satyendra Das condemned the act saying, "The one who has done this is a serious criminal and a traitor."

Speaking to ANI, Acharya Satyendra Das said, "This is an atrocious act and the one who has done this is a serious criminal and a traitor because Lord Tirupati's laddus are famous. This has hurt the sentiments of devotees…"

VHP Demands Stern Actions:

Following the controversy over the 'Prasadam' served at the Tirupati temple, the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Thursday termed it as a "serious issue" and urged for stern actions in the case.

VHP national spokesperson Vinod Bansal in a statement said, "Everybody knows about the anti-Hindu acts and deeds of the previous YSR government in Andhra Pradesh but nobody could expect that it may fall down to this level. This is a very serious issue, raised by none other than Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu . Punish those who used animal fat in Tirupati laddu prasadam," he said.

A massive row erupted after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu recently alleged that animal fat was used in making the famous Tirupati Laddu. Naidu said that the previous YSRCP government had desecrated Tirumala, the abode of world-renowned Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple, but noted the sanitisation process has already begun. The CM further alleged that the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government had served substandard food to the Tirumala devotees to not only undermine its holiness but also hurt the devotees’ sentiments.

"After finding the evidence that substandard ingredients were used to make prasadam (consecrated food), we will take stringent action against the people responsible for it," he said.

As per the latest lab test reports, beef tallow, fish oil and palm oil were being used to make the laddus - distributed as prasad - at the famous Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati. A report from the Centre of Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food, or CALF, a lab at Gujarat 's National Dairy Development Board revealed the presence of animal fat in ghee that was used to make the prasad for the devotees who thronged the temple when Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP was in power.