Tirupati laddus row: Pawan Kalyan calls for ‘Sanatana Dharma Rakshana Board’ at national level

File picture of Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan
| Photo Credit: G.N. Rao

Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan has said he is “deeply disturbed” by the findings of animal fat (fish oil, and pork and beef fat) in Tirupati Balaji prasadam, adding that there is a need for all to come together to “put an end to desecration of ‘Sanathana Dharma’ in any form”.

He stated that many questions were to be answered by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) board that was constituted by the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) Government, and the issue throws light on the desecration of temples and other dharmic practices.

A debate has to happen at the national level by all the policy makers, religious heads, judiciary, citizens, media and all others in their respective domains, he said.

The State Government is committed to take stringent action against those responsible for the irregularities, Mr. Kalyan stated, suggesting that the time has come for the constitution of a ‘Sanatana Dharma Rakshana Board’ at the national level to look into all the issues related to temples. 

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s remark on the use of animal fat in the ‘Laddu Prasadam’ made at the Tirumala shrine had kicked off a controversy and has become a matter of discussion in the TTD circles.