Political parties continue to spar over cow deaths at TTD dairy farm

Political parties clash over alleged cow deaths at TTD dairy farm, sparking FIR and accusations of misinformation.

Political parties continued to lock horns on Friday over the alleged death of cows at Sri Venkateswara Gosamrakshanasala, the dairy farm being run by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD).

The parties have been sparring on the issue for over a week, some blaming it on official apathy while others attributing motives to such allegations. The ruling and opposition parties tried to score political points over the issue, putting the reputation of the TTD at stake.

The SVU Campus Police —the limits under which the dairy farm falls—filed an FIR on Friday, based on a complaint lodged by BJP spokesperson and TTD Trust Board member G. Bhanuprakash Reddy. He submitted a copy of the complaint to Tirupati Superintendent of Police V. Harshavardhan Raju recently.

The FIR accused TTD former Chairman Bhumana Karunakar Reddy of ‘deliberately spreading misinformation’, thus invoking Sections 353 (1), 299 of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 74 IT Act 2000-2008.

Referring to the ‘wild allegations’ made by Mr. Karunakar Reddy, Mr. Bhanuprakash Reddy warned the political parties not to defame the TTD by levelling such ‘baseless allegations with a malicious intent’.

In response, Mr. Karunakar Reddy said he would not be cowed down by such attempts to muzzle his freedom of expressing the truth.

“Even if 100 cases are filed against me, I will not be scared by the misrule of the NDA government. I stand by my word and am ready to prove their misdeeds,” he said.