Amaravati, February 24 Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday alleged that during the previous YSRCP regime, nearly 60 lakh kg of "adulterated ghee" was used to make over 20 crore consecrated laddus for the Tirupati temple, involving "organized syndicates."
Such syndicates committed "sacrilege" by compromising with the prasadam, thereby hurting the sentiments of devotees, he said.
Participating in a short discussion in the Assembly on the alleged "sacrilege of the holy laddu prasadam of Lord Venkateswara Swamy" in Tirupati, Naidu said there was a conspiracy angle in the adulterated ghee supply issue.
"There was a conspiracy angle in the adulterated ghee supply issue. They (the perpetrators) became a syndicate. All this has been proven in the forensic evidence."
"As much as 59.71 lakh kg of ghee supplied to TTD was adulterated. Between 2019 and 2024, over 20 crore laddus were made using adulterated ghee," Naidu said while giving a presentation in the House.
He noted that the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the custodian of the world-famous hill shrine, spent about Rs 234.51 crore to procure the adulterated ghee.
"They (the previous regime) committed sacrilege by adulterating the laddu (sacred sweet) in an organized crime," he alleged.
Naidu also claimed that there were several attacks on temples during YSRCP chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy's rule between 2019 and 2014.
He further said he made the comments on the adulterated ghee based on the NDDB report earlier.
During an NDA meeting in the southern state in 2024, Chandrababu Naidu had alleged that the erstwhile YSRCP government did not even spare the Sri Venkateswara temple and used substandard ingredients and animal fats for making laddus, which are revered and sought after by crores of devotees.
Addressing the assembly, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan alleged that 68 lakh kg of adulterated ghee was supplied to the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) during the previous regime.
"Let the law take its course, and the guilty should be punished," he said.
According to the actor-politician, the substance supplied to TTD as pure ghee was not ghee at all. The YSRCP government had "innovated" in sacrilege by facilitating the use of chemical adulterants in place of sacred offerings.
He also called for the perpetrators to be punished.