‘Wrote To Amit Shah For CBI Inquiry on Tirupati Laddu Controversy’: Andhra Congress Chief Sharmila

Amravati:  Demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the Tirupati Laddu controversy, Andhra Pradesh Congress president YS Sharmila on Saturday said that allegations here in the matter are not "baseless" and a letter has been written to the Union Home Minister Amit Shah in this regard. 

In an interview with Republic TV, YS Sharmila said, “After Chandrababu Naidu came into power, they took samples and found that fish oil was used in making of prasadam. I believe CM Naidu changed the contractors who were making it. These allegations have arisen as these contracts were given under Jagan Reddy's tenure. We want to go in-depth about this."

"You know, 1 kg of ghee costs Rs 1000, and here it was being bought at Rs 325. Even a common man would know the product is adulterated. This is negligence, and we have demanded a CBI inquiry into this. This is Congress stand, we have written to Amit Shah over this,” she added. 

YS Sharmila Speaks To Republic on Tirupati Laddu Row | WATCH

When asked if this controversy is being used as a political tool by the TDP government, Sharmila said,  “I don’t think there is smoke without fire. Devotees were already complaining earlier about the quality of Prasadam. These allegations cannot be called baseless.” 

Meanwhile, the Tirupati temple management has recommended for having their own internal labs for testing ghee supplied for preparing prasadam laddoos. The equipment is expected to be available by December-January, but until then, they would be relying on outside labs.

On Thursday, Andhra Pradesh Minister Nara Lokesh released a video clip in which he stated that animal fat had been used in the preparation of 'Tirupati Prasadam' at the Sri Venkateswara temple, instead of ghee. 

Rebutting the claims made by Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu over the ongoing controversy on the preparation of Tirupati Balaji prasadam laddoos, former CM and YSRCP chief Jagan Reddy on Friday said that no violation took place under his government and the ruling party is politicizing religious matters.

"The tender process occurs every six months, and the qualification criteria has not changed for decades. Suppliers must provide an NABL certificate and a product quality certificate. TTD collects samples from the ghee, and only products that pass certification are used. TDP is politicizing religious matters. We have rejected the products in our regime 18 times," Jagan Reddy said.