Tirupati Prasadam row: Indian minister calls for detailed probe into Andhra CM Naidu's allegation

Indian Consumer Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday (Sept 20) called for a detailed probeintoAndhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu'sallegation that the previous state government usedsubstandard ingredients and animal fat in making Tirupati laddu, a consecrated sweet.

Addressing a press conference, Consumer Affairs Minister Joshi said, "Whatever the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister said is a very serious matter, it should be investigated in detail and whoever is guilty should be punished."

What did Chandrababu Naidu say?

On Thursday,Andhra Pradesh Minister Nara Lokesh shared a video clip of Chief Minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief Naidu sayingthat previously animal fat was used in consecrated sweets--'Tirupati Prasadam' instead of 'Ghee' at Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati.

"The Lord Venkateswara Swamy Temple at Tirumala is our most sacred temple. I am shocked to learn that the YS Jagan administration used animal fat instead of ghee in the Tirupati Prasadam," State Minister Lokesh said in a post on X.

"Shame on YS Jagan and the YSR party government that couldn't respect the religious sentiments of crores of devotees," he added.

The charges of Naidu have been denied by former TDP Chairman and YSRCPleader YV Subbareddy who claimed that only organic ingredients were used in the preparation of Prasadam.

"All the ingredients used for Swami's offerings from the last three 3 years are all organic ingredients including ghee. This is a very vile allegation that our government and our party, which have done so many programs while protecting the sanctity of Swami, are doing so many programs to mislead the people," he said.

'Beef tallow, animal fat used in preparation of ghee'

Earlier, TDP spokespersonAnam Venkata Ramana Reddy cited a lab report which said that"beef tallow and animal fat--lard and fish oil--were used in the preparation of ghee, which was supplied to Tirumala."

"The lab reports of samples that were sent for testing to the National Dairy Development Board in Gujarat certify that beef tallow and animal fat, lard, and fish oil were used in the preparation of ghee that was supplied to Tirumala and also the S value is only 19.7," Reddy said.

"The Hindu religion is offended by this. The 'prasadam' which is offered to the Lord thrice a day has been mixed with this ghee," he added.