Seven questions that need answers

The controversy over ingredients such as “beef tallow” and “lard” instead of ghee in laddu prasadam The mass ceremony at the Tirumala Venkateswara temple (Tirupati) in Andhra Pradesh has sparked reactions, yes, but also some questions.

Yes, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s accusations of his predecessor’s alleged collusion in allowing ‘impure’ ingredients in Tirupati region prasadam It came with an alleged lab report – three months after Naidu assumed office. His allegations surfaced on September 18, pointing fingers at the previous YSRCP government led by Jagan Mohan Reddy for allegedly “contaminating” the much-sought-after prasadam.

Samples of this prasadam The samples were sent to a BJP-controlled livestock lab in Gujarat, as there is reportedly no similar lab closer to home. The samples were received on July 9 and the report, which allegedly mentioned lard, beef tallow and fish oil, was dated July 16.

It is fortunate that this revelation has come only in September, when assembly elections are scheduled in three states and union territories – Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra and Haryana – this month and next.

Interestingly, neither the Andhra Pradesh government nor the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) have officially confirmed these shocking findings. Amid all this noise about purity and impurity, let us examine seven crucial questions:

1) Why send samples to a lab in Gujarat when TTD claims to have a posh lab for testing? prasadam since 2016?

2) Is the TTD laboratory operational and if not, why not? And where are the reports, if any, of previous tests of the LadduWhat is the quality?