The ghee keeping Andhra on the boil Premium

Tirupati laddu row: Faith cannot be a battleground for electoral gains

The alleged adulteration of the ghee used for the laddu prasadam at the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has been in the news for more than a year for all the wrong reasons.

The controversy began in September 2024 when Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu alleged that adulterated ghee, laced with animal fat including beef tallow, had been supplied to the temple during the previous YSRCP regime. The charge triggered outrage.

In October 2024, the YSRCP approached the Supreme Court, seeking a probe. The Court constituted a Special Investigation Team (STI) headed by the Central Bureau of Investigation, with members from the State police and the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). After 15 months, the SIT filed its final supplementary charge sheet in mid-January 2026 before the Anti-Corruption Bureau Court in Nellore.

The contents of the charge sheet appear to have unsettled the NDA, as certain ingredients reportedly identified in samples tested by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) were not mentioned in the document. On the other hand, the YSRCP was quick to claim vindication, with some leaders projecting the SIT findings as a “clean chit” to the previous regime led by Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

Yet, the SIT report was far from exculpatory. It confirmed adulteration and went so far as to state that the product supplied was not ghee at all, but a sludge concocted by mixing palm oil and synthetic substances, along with chemicals allegedly hazardous to human health, to replicate the texture and aroma of ghee. Leaders of the NDA held a press conference to counter the Opposition’s narrative.

The controversy spilled into the Legislative Council, where the YSRCP used its numerical strength to stall proceedings. It also dragged Heritage Foods, owned by Mr. Naidu’s family, into the controversy, alleging that it had attempted to benefit from the ghee supply contract.