Tirupati laddu row turns on CBN

The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) on Thursday demanded that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan apologise to devotees, after a chargesheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) that came into public domain on Wednesday, confirmed that no animal fat was used in sacred Tirupati laddus.

‘Truth prevails’, was how YSRCP reacted to reports that the CBI in its chargesheet filed in a court in Nellore last week confirmed that there was no animal fat in the ghee used for making laddus by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).

“The truth is out. The CBI chargesheet confirms no animal fat was used in TTD laddus. Those who misled devotees with false narratives must take responsibility,” reads a social post by the main Opposition party in the state.

It also wondered in the post when would CM Naidu and Dy CM Pawan Kalyan apologize.

YSRCP official spokesperson Karumuri Venkata Reddy stated that a major conspiracy in the history of Andhra Pradesh has finally been exposed.

“The ICAR–National Dairy Research Institute in Haryana and the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in Gujarat, after testing the ghee samples used in the preparation of the sacred Tirumala Sri Vari Laddu Prasadam, have conclusively confirmed that no animal fat of any kind was present in the ghee. Chandrababu, who spread false propaganda claiming that animal fat was mixed in the ghee, must now rub his nose on the ground and publicly apologize,” he said.

YSRCP leaders pointed out that both Naidu and Pawan Kalyan hurt the religious sentiments of devotees by claiming that the ghee procured by TTD during the YSRCP's rule was adulterated with animal fat.

The CBI, which led the Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted on the direction of the Supreme Court in October 2024, filed its final chargesheet in the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) Court in Nellore on January 23.

The CBI, in its chargesheet, cited the report of ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, Haryana.

The investigating agency mentioned that four sealed ghee samples drawn by TTD from four tankers of AR Dairy Food Private Limited on July 6, 2024 and July 12, 2024 at TTD Warehouse, Tirumala were sent to ICAR-NDRI to test for the presence of Lard and other animal fats. NDR, Karnal, in its report dated May 16, 2025, stated that all four samples were analysed using a PCR-based method but had not detected Lard in any of the four samples.

The chargesheet, however, confirms that the ghee was adulterated with a cocktail of vegetable oils and laboratory esters designed to chemically mimic dairy parameters.