Published Mar 05, 2026 | 9:39 AM ⚊ Updated Mar 05, 2026 | 9:39 AM
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place in his campaign against his bete noir YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
It all started back in September 2024 with his dramatic reveal: The previous YSRCP government had allegedly used ghee laced with animal fat in making holy Tirumala laddus. Devotees were outraged, headlines exploded, and Naidu looked like the guardian of tradition.
However, then came the CBI-led Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) final chargesheet in January 2026 — no animal fat, no beef tallow, no lard. Instead, it was synthetic stuff: Palm oil, vegetable concoctions, and clever chemical additives masquerading as pure ghee. The “animal fat” bombshell? Pretty much debunked.
Naidu, ever the fighter, isn’t backing down. He sticks to his original script, pointing to earlier National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) lab reports that he says backed him up. However, nowadays, he insists more on non-fat adulteration, which saved the day for him.
His TDP troops rallied behind him, smoothly shifting the narrative to “synthetic adulterants” — the one thing the CBI did confirm — and shouting from the rooftops about massive faith betrayal.
His allies, though? Not quite singing the same bhajan.
Pawan Kalyan initially nodded along with the animal fat angle, but he’s since dialled it way back. These days, he’s more focused on the “synthetic” side, the temple admin lapses, and how he never accused Jagan Mohan Reddy of personally ordering how the adulterants should be used to make laddus.
In Assembly speeches, he’s condemned the sacrilege but kept things measured — no more fire-and-brimstone on the animal fat bit. He’s clearly trying to avoid getting too deep into a controversy that’s starting to look like quicksand.
The BJP? They’ve been playing the silent type from day one — aloof, not exactly raising hell over the “sanctimonious” laddu desecration like one might expect from the saffron brigade. Even after the CBI’s chargesheet, their state president, PVN Madhav, was not very forthcoming to slam the previous regime’s “adulterated thinking.”
Sensing the support cooling, Naidu reportedly tried some velvet-glove diplomacy. There were cosy meetings at his Undavalli residence with Pawan Kalyan — urging a stronger push against Jagan despite the creeping realisation that dragging this out too long might backfire. But if he tones out attack, YSRCP could counter-punch hard: “See? Naidu dragged God’s name into politics for votes, and now he is scramming!”
Naidu is sore that YSRCP leaders like Ambati Rambabu and Jogi Ramesh raise caste issues if any action is taken against them for inciting people on the laddu issue — they belong to the Kapu and BC castes, respectively. Naidu, nonetheless, is trying to rally the troops. He even looped in BJP’s Madhav, asking his party MLAs to coordinate with TDP to launch attacks on Jagan. But for now, the coalition isn’t marching in lockstep with him.
Naidu is out there swinging solo, like a lone ranger. Back down, and YSRCP would pounce on him with the “God for votes” angle. Keep going, and the whole thing risks looking like TDP stretching it too far for political gain. In Andhra politics, sometimes the sweetest victory is knowing when to begin and when to stop.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
