Tirupati Laddu Controversy News: Who supplies ghee to Balaji temple, and who said what?

Tirupati Laddu Controversy News: The latest controversy of the Tirupati Laddus has sparked into a long-drawn political controversy. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Trust has, however, endorsed the presiding chief minister, N Chandrababu Naidu who claimed that the famed ‘prasadam’ had animal fat in it, while YS Jagan Mohan Reddy of YSRCP has labeled the claims as ‘horrific.’ primary topic of any article then tends to be investigating the position taken within the controversy passages, even when the aim is to describe the articles.

The Union health minister, JP Nadda, had to step in on Friday, May 12, as the row concerning the Tirupati laddus was escalating. So he asked the state government for a report concerning the problem, assuring that he would be taking such measures as would be appropriate after understanding the aforementioned report. Pralhad Joshi, the food minister, compelled the need for a probe into the allegations.

According to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams

TTD Executive Officer J Shyamala Rao said at a news conference in Tirupati on Friday that the board was in the process of blacklisting the contractor who delivered “adulterated” ghee since lab tests had shown the presence of animal fat, “Lard” (pig fat), and other impurities.

The governing Telugu Desam Party, or TDP, released a lab report the day before to support N Chandrababu Naidu’s claim that Tirupati laddus made under the previous YSRCP administration included animal fat. This is when the TTD made its announcement.

The legal procedure will now begin, Shyamala Rao said, adding that the vendors profited from the absence of an internal testing laboratory.

Rao said, “As of right now, the unviable rates, sending the samples to outside labs for testing, and lack of an internal lab are the reasons for the lack of quality.”

He emphasized that the providers, who provided ghee between ₹320 and ₹411, took advantage of these shortcomings and said that it was not feasible to deliver pure cow ghee within this price range.

“Even after being warned, it was first discovered that the four ghee tankers that AR Foods had provided were of inferior quality. According to Rao, the sample that was submitted to the reputable NDDB CALF, Anand (lab), had an S-value analysis that was performed on it that was outside of the usual ranges. This suggests that the sample included foreign fats such as lard, cattle tallow, sunflower, and soy bean fat.

He said that these samples also showed signs of contamination from vegetable oil.

TDP’s assertions over Tirupati Laddus

At a news conference on Thursday, TDP spokesman Anam Venkata Ramana Reddy said that the adulteration on the ghee samples submitted by the TTD had been verified by a livestock laboratory in Gujarat.

Reddy showed the alleged lab report, which seemed to attest to the presence of “fish oil,” “beef tallow,” and “lard” in the provided ghee sample. The lab report was dated July 16 and the sample was received on July 9, 2024.

Regarding Tirupati laddus, what was said by Chandrababu Naidu?

CM Chandrababu Naidu said during a public gathering in the Prakasam district that the previous government had harmed the holiness of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams by purchasing ghee of lower quality at lower costs, which had an impact on the quality of laddu.

“We switched ghee suppliers today. We began importing ghee from Karnataka under the Nandini brand. People claim that their feelings were wounded by the claims that Tirupati laddus contain animal fat and contaminated ghee. Since people have trust in their different faiths, Chandrababu Naidu questioned, “Should I spare them (culprits) when unpardonable mistakes were committed?”

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy responds in like

Jagan Mohan Reddy, the YSRCP president and former chief minister, called the issue “diversion politics” and denounced it as a “concocted story.”

Reddy said that Naidu is the kind of guy who would exploit God for political benefit and that the adulteration problem was brought up to deflect attention away from the state government’s 100 days of power.

This is the politics of distraction. People are voicing their displeasure with Chandrababu Naidu’s 100-day rule on the one hand. They want to know what became of their “Super six”—promises made at the polls. In these conditions, this made-up tale was created to deflect public attention, according to Reddy.

Reddy questioned Chief Minister Naidu, “Is it fair to play with the sentiments of crores of devotees across the world?”

Reddy went on to say that all samples, examinations, and findings included in laboratory test reports as proof took place during the NDA administration.

Jagan Mohan Reddy indicated that he will write to Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Naidu’s purportedly demeaning behavior toward the Tirumala deity.

Which provider of Tirupati ghee? stating AR Dairy Food Pvt Ltd

The AR Dairy Food Private Limited, a Tamil Nadu-based business that provided ghee to the Tirupati Lord Balaji temple, said that the authorities had officially approved samples of its products, attesting to their high caliber.

The company, situated in Dindigul, said that it only provided ghee to the Tirumala shrine in June and July. Even when it was provided, lab results that were properly attributed were sent with it.

Never provided the Tirupati temple with ghee. Amul

Amul clarified on Friday that it has never provided Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) with ghee.

Amul.coop released a statement on X after statements on several social media sites, clarifying that Amul Ghee was never provided to the TTD.

This relates to a few social media reports that claimed Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) was receiving supplies of Amul Ghee. We would want to clarify that we have never provided TTD with Amul Ghee,” the statement said.

“We also want to make it clear that milk is used to make Amul Ghee in our ISO-certified, state-of-the-art production facilities. Premium pure milk fat is used to make Amul Ghee. As required by the FSSAI, the milk that is received at our dairies undergoes extensive quality inspections, which include adulteration detection.

Why was the delivery of Nandini ghee to the Tirupati temple stopped the previous year?

Ramalinga Reddy, the minister of Karnataka Muzrai, said on Friday that every prasada served at the state’s main temples would undergo testing. He went on to say that the prasada at these temples would only be made using Nandini ghee, which is provided by the Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF).

“All of Karnataka’s principal temples will get a circular either today or tomorrow requiring the usage of only KMF’s Nandini ghee for prasada. We’ll examine the prasada served at these temples as well,” Reddy said.

The KMF apparently chose not to participate in a contract in 2023 to provide TTD with cheese. According to News18, the KMF said that it was only able to match the TTD’s reduced rates for ghee at ₹400 per kilogram.

At the time, the federation insisted that it had to protect farmers’ interests and was reluctant to compromise on quality, even if doing so would cost it money.

But during the last month, the KMF started providing Nandini ghee to Tirupati in response to chief minister Chandrababu Naidu’s order to raise the quality of laddus.

The former priest of the Lord Venkateswara temple responded sharply

Ramana Deekshitulu, a former head priest of the Lord Venkateswara temple, voiced distress about rumors of adulteration in the materials used to prepare the hallowed “laddu prasadam.”

He said that he had unsuccessfully brought up the quality-related issues with the chairman of the TTD board and the executive officer. He asked Chief Minister Naidu to address the matter by implementing remedial actions.