Jagan Mulls Tirumala trek

Vijayawada : The issue of the use of adulterated ghee in the laddu prasadam of Sri Lord Venkateswara seems to have taken a pure political colour and the YSRCP which feels that their image has been badly damaged now wants to divert the issue which could even lead to law and order problem.

The former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy gave a call to the party activists to conduct ‘puja’ across the state in various temples, including Tirumala. But they are not clear what kind of puja and for what they are to be performed.

They allege that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu had made false claims on the issue of adulteration of the ghee.

Though officially not announced, it is being said that Jagan himself may trek to Tirumala on Saturday. This has led to a strong reaction from the BJP and TDP. BJP leader Bhanu Prakash Reddy said that YSRCP appears to be gearing up to create law and order problems and blame the government that they had prevented him from going to Tirumala and praying to the Lord.

He said the BJP activists would not allow Jagan to go beyond the statue of Garuda at Alipiri unless he signs the declaration which should be countersigned by a witness and should apologise to the people for his acts. This is not a new practice, if a non-Christian has to go to the Vatican, he too has to sign a declaration. Jagan cannot claim that he will not sign. Along with the sin of adulteration, he had also as CM sinned by not signing the declaration, Bhanu added.

Meanwhile, Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan said that he will be in Tirumala on October 1 and 2 to pray following the Deeksha he had taken up as part of penance for the sacrilege committed by the YSRCP government. His visit will be followed by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's visit on October 4 when he along with his wife will be offering silk robes to the Lord as part of the Brahmotsavam rituals.

TDP leaders said the temple is run as per Agama Sastra. No individual can perform pujas as he likes. Jagan should first make it clear what kind of pujas Jagan wants to perform. They said Jagan refuses to change and hence wants to enact another drama on Saturday which will not be tolerated. This is pure diversionary tactics, party official spokesperson Pattabhiram said.