AP: Ex-CM Jagan Mohan Reddy cancels Tirupati temple visit amid row about animal fat in laddoos
Telugu Desam Party and Bharatiya Janata Party leaders asked the YSRCP leader to sign a declaration meant for non-Hindus before entering its premises.
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Former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday cancelled his visit to the Sri Venkateswara temple in Tirupati after leaders from the ruling Telugu Desam Party demanded that he fill a form declaring his faith before entering its premises, The Indian Express reported.
This comes days after Telugu Desam Party chief and Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu claimed that substandard ingredients and animal fat were used to make laddoos at the Sri Venkateswara temple when the Reddy-led YSR Congress Party was in power.
The laddoos are given as holy prasad, or offerings, at the temple, which is run by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam.
The Telugu Desam Party is part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. The YSR Congress Party led the previous government in the state.
Amid the controversy over the laddoos, Reddy had planned to visit the temple on Saturday morning. However, leaders from the Telugu Desam Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party asked Reddy to sign a declaration meant for non-Hindus, NDTV reported, citing unidentified sources.
The two parties, citing a rule of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, said that foreigners and non-Hindus must declare their faith for the Hindu deity Venkateswara before visiting the temple. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam runs the Sri Venkateswara temple.
State BJP chief D Purandeswari on Wednesday also said that the former...
