New Delhi: BJP leader Subramanian Swamy filed a petition in the Supreme Court, seeking a court-monitored investigation into allegations of animal fat being used in the prasadam laddoos of Balaji Tirupati temple.
“Today I filed a PIL seeking Supreme Court direction to investigate unsubstantiated allegations by CM C.B. Naidu that the Tirupati Tirumala Temple Prasadam were adulterated with meat of animals and other rotten items creating chaos among bhaktas,” Swami shared on X on Monday.
In his plea, Swamy requested the Andhra Pradesh government to submit a detailed report on the sources and quality testing of the ghee used in the laddoos. He further urged the court to issue an interim order for a comprehensive forensic analysis by the appropriate authorities.
“There should have been adequate supervision to verify the quality of the suppliers providing various ingredients,” the plea stated.
The controversy began with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu claimed that animal fat had been used in the prasadam during the tenure of YS Jangan Mohan Reddy. The YSR congress party denied the allegations and called Naidu a habitual liar. In response, Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party (TDP) circulated a lab report to substantiate its claims.
Two days later, on September 20, J Shyamala Rao, Executive Officer of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) at a press conference announced that the lab reports confirmed the presence of animal fat and lard in the prasadam sample sent for testing.
