Way too deep in his show of ‘piety’ in politics, Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan has refused to back down from his ‘deeksha’ despite Naidu’s claims of ‘animal fat in laddus’ falling flat.
Published Oct 01, 2024 | 12:16 PM ⚊ Updated Oct 01, 2024 | 4:56 PM
Pawan Kalyan and Chandrababu Naidu
Supreme Court’s fervent appeal to the Andhra Pradesh government to keep God out of politics seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
Despite the Supreme Court slamming Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu over his unsubstantiated claims of animal fat in Tirumala laddus, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan is going ahead with his plan to visit the hill shrine to end his 11-day deeksha.
Actor-politician Kalyan took the deeksha to purportedly ‘atone for the sins committed by the previous YSRCP government’. Naidu, on 18 September, claimed that animal fat was used to prepare laddus given as prasadam to the devotees of Lord Venkateswara. However, the Supreme Court on 30 September questioned Naidu’s claim, saying, “Gods should be kept away from politics”.
The apex court insisted that there was no conclusive proof of animal fat in ghee or the ghee in question being used to prepare the laddus. Yet, politics around it hasn’t stopped. Way too deep in his show of ‘piety’ in politics, Pawan Kalyan has refused to back down despite Naidu’s claims falling flat.
Kalyan’s deeksha has been centred around the protection of the Sanatana dharma parirakshana in the wake of Naidu’s assertion that the laddus were made with adulterated ghee under the previous “demonic” rule of the YSRCP.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters on Tuesday, 1 October, said that he performed the ritual since temples were desecrated in the state for the past five to six years.
He further claimed that it was not due to the Laddu issue but it could have triggered him to observe the deeksha.
“Some kind of desecration (of temples) has been happening continuously for the last five to six years. Around 219 temples were desecrated. In Ramatheertham, Lord Ram’s statue was vandalised. So, this is not about just one prasad issue. This prayashchit deeksha is based on the commitment to take forward the Sanathana Dharma Parirakshana Trust, it is very essential,” the deputy chief minister said.
“This kind of occurrence should be stopped and addressed differently at a different level. After I am done with this deeksha, we will have a declaration,” he added.
Though the Supreme Court questioned the veracity of Naidu’s claim, no responsible leader in either the TDP or its ally Jana Sena had bothered to answer it. However, the TDP put up a weak defence, saying that it stood by Naidu’s contention.
To top it all, the TDP-led NDA government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the adulteration of laddus. Its terms of reference indicated that the team would be looking into who allowed adulterated ghee to be used in making laddus and not whether the prasadam was made with impure ghee.
The apex court raised the same issue while asking how Naidu could make such a conclusive statement on adulteration of laddus without a proper inquiry and also sought the views of the Centre, on whether or not an independent inquiry should be ordered.
Kalyan, as Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, has been observing the deeksha since 22 September, a period during which he observed a fast and did not focus on anything except performing the rituals of penance for the sacrilege that had happened at the abode of the Lord under the “demonic” rule of the YSRCP.
He is expected to arrive at the Tirumala shrine on Tuesday evening. He will end his deeksha after the darshan of the Lord on 2 October and will address what is being called the Varahi Public meeting on 3 October, which is expected to emphasise the need for protecting Sanatana dharma.
Till the ghee used in Tirumala laddu sparked a controversy, Kalyan was not overtly religious though his party, Jana Sena, is a BJP ally. He used to offer prayers to gods now and then before embarking on any mission but did not take up the cause of Sanatana dharma on the scale that he is doing now.
Even after coming to power too, he did not show much of his religious side. But the trigger for him to show his penchant for Sanatana dharma came after Naidu dropped the bombshell recently that under the YSRCP regime, even Tirumala laddus were not spared and were adulterated with animal fat.
Naidu may have never expected that his statement – whether a gaffe or deliberate – would cause a conflagration. In his usual tenor of taking YS Jagan Mohan Reddy to task, he used the findings of a research lab report that the ghee that was meant for making laddus had adulterants including animal fat. TTD has categorically denied using the ghee in making the laddus. Its executive officer, in a press conference, said the adulterated ghee consignment was rejected and returned to the supplier.
With the Supreme Court saying that there was no evidence of adulterated ghee, Naidu is in an unenviable position, unable to extricate himself from the mess that he had created out of his political bravado.
Ever since the laddu controversy, Kalyan has been on an overdrive. He has been vehement and emphatic about the need for preserving Sanatana dharma so much so that even the BJP leaders lagged in the intensity of espousing the cause.
While defending Sanatana Dharma, Kalyan even entered into a verbal duel with actor Prakash Raj. The latter’s advice not to inflame passions evoked a sharp reaction from the actor-politician. He said Raj’s brand of secularism is something that he did not like as it sounded as though one should keep quiet even in the face of an assault on one’s faith.
On 21 September, Kalyan announced his prayaschitta deeksha — initiation of rituals to do penance. Kalyan said it will continue at Sri Dasavatara Venkateswara Swamy temple in Nambur in Guntur district the following day. While announcing his deeksha, he sought the forgiveness of Lord Balaji for the sacrilege that had been committed by the previous government. He said it was a stain on the psyche of Hindus that they did not discover the adulteration beforehand.
“I am very much hurt that it had not come to my notice in the beginning itself,” he said.
By championing the cause of Sanatana dharma, Kalyan is emerging as a spiritual leader which might make the BJP happy. Also, it is probably the first time that religion is taking centre stage in politics in Andhra Pradesh.
If the slugfest between Kalyan and actor Raj is any indication, it is expected that the former will give a fitting reply to his detractors at Varahi Sabha at Tirupati on 3 October.
One inescapable fact is that Kalyan is trying to position himself as a spiritual leader but it remains to be seen whether he is chasing a wild goose with uncertainty looming over whether the laddus were indeed made with adulterated ghee.
(Edited by Majnu Babu).
