YSR Congress Party president and former chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy’s cancelled his planned visit to Tirumala to offer prayers at the Lord Venkateswara temple Saturday, after the Telugu Desam Party-led NDA government escalated its attack on him. The TDP government had accused the erstwhile YSRCP regime of using adulterated ghee containing animal fat to prepare laddus offered to the deity, setting off a political firestorm. Police in Tirupati district had also warned YSRCP leaders against organising protests or taking out rallies. “Some key YSRCP leaders are being prevented by police from leaving their homes. They are under house arrest,” former minister Ambati Rambabu claimed. Further, a fresh controversy arose after BJP leader Lanka Dinakar and BJP MP Daggubati Purandeswari asked Jagan to fill out a religion declaration form for when non-Hindus visit the temple. Dinakar said that Jagan should declare his religion, and also his faith in Lord Venkateswara, before entering the temple. “We demand that Jagan should first apologise to all Hindus for tarnishing the spiritual sanctity of TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams) and the temple. He is going to take the darshan of Lord Balaji. No one can stop him, but when he enters Tirupati Tirumala, he should provide a declaration. This should be done by all non-Hindus,” Dinkar said. Former YSRCP MLA and former TTD board chairman Bhumana Karunakar Reddy shot back: “Jagan has visited the temple several times and participated in many rituals in the past; what is the need now for him to fill out the declaration form? It is a political conspiracy to defame him.” Sources in Jagan’s office said the former CM was scheduled to visit the temple at 10:20 am on Saturday and offer prayers. Jagan has been visiting several religious shrines after his party’s poll debacle in the May 2024 Assembly and Parliament elections. At the airport at Renigunta where Jagan was expected to arrive tonight by 7 pm, there was a heavy security cover as TDP, JSP, and BJP leaders called for protests to prevent Jagan from leaving for Tirumala. In the evening, though, the former CM said he was cancelling the visit. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu meanwhile urged people to follow the conventions and traditions to offer prayers at the Lord Venkateswara Temple. Stating that the Tirumala temple is the largest shrine in the world for the Hindus, Naidu said on Friday that the people of Andhra Pradesh are fortunate enough to have such a divine place in the State. "My Government accords highest priority to safeguard the sanctity of the Lord of the Seven Hills and to preserve the sentiments of the devotees. Each pilgrim who visits Tirumala for the Darshan of the Lord takes utmost care to follow the conventions and traditions to offer prayers to the Lord,” Naidu said in a statement on Friday. “My sincere request to all pilgrims is that no devotee should act against the sentiments and temple rituals,” Naidu said. The TDP has claimed that non-Hindus can enter the world famous Lord Venkateswara Temple at Tirupati only after signing the “declaration of faith” to the presiding deity. The TDP also released what the party claims are “declaration of faith” documents of other non-Hindu celebrities and political leaders. They claim that those who had declared their faith before entering the temple include Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and his daughter Suhana Khan in 2023. The party also furnished the purported “declaration of faith” of Farooq Abdullah, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir state. “A file was moved making it mandatory for non-Hindus to give this declaration of faith to Lord Venkateswara,” a TDP leader said. Most non-Hindu celebrities had followed this rule since 2012, the leader claimed. “Jagan has no moral right to enter the temple when he has not declared his faith like the rest of non-Hindus.”
