A four-hour-long purification ritual was held at Andhra Pradesh’s Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) temple for Lord Venkateswara Swamy and restore the sanctity of the shrine amid allegations of adulteration of its laddus that are offered as prasad.
A row over Tirupati laddus erupted after Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu alleged last week that the prasad at the revered temple was mixed with animal fat during his predecessor Jagan Mohan Reddy’s rule. Following this, a lab test report of the laddus also claimed that they were degraded.
Meanwhile, TTD’s executive officer J Shyamala Rao has allayed devotees’ concerns about the temple prasad as they were purified after the ritual’s conduction.
The Tirupati laddu row has received condemnation from most Hindu groups as well as the Opposition with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi raising concerns over the case. Naidu and Reddy are engaged in a war of words with the latter rejecting the chief minister’s claim.
FSSAI sends notice to ghee supplier
A R Dairy Food Private Ltd, a Tamil Nadu-based company that supplied ghee to Tirupati temple, has been accused of providing substandard products.
the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has asked A R Diary Food Private Ltd why its central licence should not be suspended for contravention of the provisions of the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulation, 2011, according to PTI.
According to the notice, FSSAI said it received information from The Director of the Institute of Preventive Medicine, Mangalagiri (Andhra Pradesh), that A R Dairy Food Private Ltd in Dindigul was one of the suppliers of ghee to TTD for the last four years.
Further, as per the information, the ghee procurement committee of TTD has sent all the samples supplied to TTD for testing to NDDB CALF Lab at Anand, Gujarat, it said.
“After analysis, the sample from your firm M/s. A R Dairy Food Private Ltd (FSSAI Central License number 10014042001610) has failed to meet the parameters and your firm has been blacklisted by EO, TTD,” the notice said.
“In view of all the above you are hereby directed to show cause as to why your central licence shall not be suspended for contravention of the above said provisions of the Food Safety and Standards (Food Products Standards and Food Additives) Regulation, 2011,” it said.
Naidu announces SIT probe
Telegu Desam Party’s Naidu on Sunday announced a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the adulteration of laddus.
Other leaders have also joined the Andhra government’s chorus in calling for a higher-level probe into the allegation.
Union Minister Chirag Paswan termed the alleged use of animal fat in Tirupati laddus as “worrying and condemnable” and said those involved would face stringent action to prevent such occurrences in the future.
BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has urged for a court-monitored investigation into the matter.
NCP-SP’s Sharad Pawar said, “If anything was mixed, it is very wrong and action should be taken against those involved.”
With inputs from PTI
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