Tirupati controversy: Laddoo with ingredient for political fighting
political controversy. Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu accused his predecessor and bete-noire Jagan Mohan Reddy of using animal fat-adulterated ghee in these cardamom flavoured laddoos.
The controversy, which has strong religious overtones since Reddy is a devout Christian, has brought the tender process followed by Reddy's erstwhile government and non-existent adulteration checks at Tirupati in sharp focus. ET deconstructs the politics behind the religious controversy.
The laddoo quality
In the run-up to the Andhra Pradesh assembly election earlier this year, the quality of Tirupati laddoos was raked up by Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP). It may have appeared to be a trivial issue at the time, with complaints such as the shelf life of laddoo declining to seven days from 21 days and the taste deteriorating. But as soon as Naidu took over as chief minister in June, he disbanded the Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanam (TTD) board and constituted a committee to streamline the procurement process of ghee, the key ingredient of the laddoo.
The committee sent samples of ghee to Anand-based National Dairy Development Board's (NDDB) Centre for Analysis and Learning in Livestock and Food (CALF). The report, shared with the media by the government, has raised questions about the presence of animal fat (beef tallow and lard) in the ghee. As Naidu charged the previous government with not running requisite adulteration tests, Reddy retaliated saying 18 samples had been rejected on his watch in five years.
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