The CBI has requested the Andhra Pradesh government to take action against senior TTD officers for alleged deliberate omissions and failures in tender conditions, leading to the supply of adulterated ghee used in Tirupati laddu production.
TTD Board member Bhanu Prakash Reddy has apologiesed for the incident and stated that the trust would conduct an inquiry in this regard and take appropriate action.
Four devotees, including three women, died and several more were injured in a stampede at the Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple in Tirupati on Wednesday night. Hundreds of devotees had turned up for the 10-day Vaikunta Dwara Darshanam, which begins on January 10.
The new TTD chief said all those who work at Tirumala should be Hindus.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the custodian of Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple, has barred 18 employees from participating in all religious activities for allegedly partaking in non-Hindu activities. The decision has been defended by the Andhra Pradesh government, citing the need to protect the religious sentiments of Hindu devotees. The move has sparked debate, with some supporting the TTD's stance and others criticizing it as discriminatory.
Kalyan urged everyone to come together to put an end to the desecration of the 'Sanathana Dharma' (Hinduism) in any form.
Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan has said that the laddu adulteration issue is just a tip of the iceberg and there are many more decisions taken during the previous regime that have to be investigated.
The Tirupati Laddu row intensified on Friday with the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which is managing the super-rich temple, backing Chief Minister N Chandra Babu Naidu's claim that the famous 'prasadam' had animal fat and Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy dubbing the accusations as 'atrocious'.
To keep the flames under check, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said the supply of Nandini ghee to make Tirupati laddus was suspended one-and-half years ago, during the BJP government's tenure.
Of the total expected revenue, the cash offerings made by millions of devotees in the sacred hundi (offering box) at the hill temple complex were expected to fetch about Rs 1,000 crore.
Though the 2000 year-old shrine remains closed in line with the national lockdown, all rituals are being conducted uninterruptedly and flawlessly by the priests
The new TTD chairman's Venkateswara pendant seems like a simple yet effective tool to silence his critics and to unburden the baggage of his family's religion.
People who observed the way his wealth and political clout grew say his fortunes hchanged once the ruling establishment handed him control of sand quarrying in Vellore and Kanchipuram districts after 2011.
'Our priority is how to reduce the waiting time for people for darshan.'
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