The controversy surrounding alleged adulteration of ghee used for preparing the sacred Tirumala laddu prasadam has taken a new turn, with the CBI-led Special Investigation Team (SIT) chargesheet generating more questions than the facts.
While there are many serious issues pertaining to ghee supply, the SIT report has only kicked up a political debate on whether animal fat, including beef tallow or pig lard was present in the ghee used for making of Tirumala laddu.
The YSR Congress party sought to claim that the SIT report has cleared the party leaders of all charges and nailed the allegations made by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and deputy CM Pawan Kalyan over the adulteration of ghee with animal fat.
The banner report published in Sakshi claimed that the SIT and even central agencies had found no evidence of animal fat in the ghee used for Tirumala laddu preparation, calling the controversy a case of “political ruckus and misinformation.”
The media houses affiliated to the Telugu Desam Party point out that ghee worth nearly Rs 250 crore, running into lakhs of kilograms, was not genuine dairy ghee at all, but allegedly a chemically manufactured substitute made from synthetic oils and additives.
Eenadu reported that the SIT had confirmed the supply of adulterated ghee and filed a charge sheet, it avoided emphasis on the animal fat controversy. It conveniently ignored the TDP’s allegations on presence of animal fat.
Analysts say whether or not animal fat was present, the very use of artificial or adulterated ghee in sacred offerings constitutes a grave breach of trust.
“This is not merely a political issue, but a matter of faith involving crores of devotees,” an analyst said.
Several questions, however, remain unresolved: On what basis did Chandrababu Naidu initially claim animal fat contamination? If SIT findings differ, should political leaders apologise? Why has Pawan Kalyan, who performed symbolic penitence rituals, remained silent now?
There are allegations that the dairy firm accused of supplying adulterated ghee — Harsh Dairy, now operating as Bhole Baba Dairy — reportedly received approvals in 2018, and a major ghee order of 94,000 kg was placed in 2019, during the TDP regime. This has raised questions about when adulteration practices actually began.
The SIT chargesheet conveniently ignored the original report of the NDDB-CALF, which talked about the presence of beef tallow, lard and fish oil, based on which Naidu and his colleagues sought to malign the previous YSRCP government.
The latest ICAR-NDRI research report, on which the CBI-led SIT banked on also did not rule out completely the presence of animal fat, but only said the chances are low. If animal fat content was below 10%, it may not have been detected.
Experts have argued that PCR testing cannot conclusively identify animal fat, and only mitochondrial DNA testing can provide certainty.
The controversy has been reduced to partisan positioning between the TDP and YSR Congress, while the larger issue of accountability in temple procurement remains inadequately addressed.
The Tirumala ghee issue remains not just a political scandal, but a crisis of institutional credibility.