AMARAVATI: 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 in which "organised syndicates" were involved.
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 (perpetrators) became a syndicate. All these are proved 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 further said that the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the custodian of 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 organsised crime," he alleged.
He also claimed that there were several attacks on temples during YS 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 a NDA meeting in the southern state in 2024, Chandrababu Naidu had alleged that the erstwhile YSRCP government did not even spare Sri Venkateswara temple and used substandard ingredients and animal fats for making laddus, which are revered and sought after by crores of devotees.