Ahead of YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) chief Jagan Mohan Reddy’s visit to the Tirumala Tirupati temple on Saturday, September 28, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) led alliance in the state has stepped up their campaign against him. The TDP has asked former CM Jagan, a practising Christian, to sign a declaration form declaring his faith in Lord Venkateswara before entering the temple.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) made it mandatory in July 2012 for those belonging to faiths other than Hinduism to sign this declaration form. The then TTD Joint Executive Officer (JEO) KS Srinivsasa Raju stated that as per GO MS No 311 of the state revenue endowments- 1, Rule no. 16, non-Hindus must sign this declaration.
The TDP has alleged that Jagan didn’t abide by this practice while he was the Chief Minister between 2019-2024.
Since September 18, the TDP led alliance has been accusing the previous YSRCP led state government of adulterating the ghee with adulterants like beef tallow and fish oil used to make the famous Tirumala laddus. It is in this context that Jagan announced his visit to the temple.
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Addressing a press conference in Nellore, TDP spokesperson Anam Venkata Ramana Reddy mentioned the rule and said that several leaders like Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, former Jammu and Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah among others signed the declaration.
Anam also accused the former CM of duping Hindus and Christians. Dubbing Jagan a ‘half-ticket’, he asked if Jagan was a Hindu duping Christians or a Christian duping Hindus.
“Did you ever attend Tirumala with your wife after you got married? Did your daughters attend? You cannot stake a claim to Christianity and Hinduism. Come to Tirumala along with your wife and daughters,” he said, adding that Jagan should declare that he is a Hindu if he so desires and behave like one instead of pretending to belong to both faiths.