India Today, the popular magazine known across India, featured a new cover showing a Tirumala laddu with a Congress cap on it. The title of the story is "The Politics of Purity."
While the article itself is detailed and analytical, the cover image has received mixed reactions.
Some view it as a creative and artistic portrayal of the situation, while others are calling it blasphemous and disrespectful to place a political symbol on the sacred Tirumala Prasadam.
Actor Prakash Raj tweeted the cover image with the caption, "Cheapness of Politics Today," without clearly indicating whether he was criticizing the cover or agreeing with the message it conveys.
A line on the cover reads, "The Tirupati Laddu controversy symbolizes the worrying trend of using even prasad for divisive ends," implying that prasadam should not be politicized.
However, some readers find the image contradictory to this statement, arguing that putting a political cap on the laddu itself is a form of blasphemy.