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Journalism of Courage
A day after the Supreme Court pulled up the Chandrababu Naidu-led Andhra Pradesh government over the Tirupati temple laddu controversy, observing that “Gods must be kept out of politics”, Tirupati MP Maddila Gurumoorthy tells The Indian Express that this was part of the Chief Minister’s “revenge politics”.
Gurumoorthy, one of the four MPs of the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), explains why there is no truth to the allegations and how the party is rebuilding after the drubbing in the recent Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.
Excerpts:
It is politically driven and there is no truth to the allegations. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) Board comprises important individuals from many states and has sub-committees to monitor purchase, procurement, and other issues. The board, in consultation with the panels, decides the agency to procure ingredients through a tender.
Samples usually sent to a lab in Mysuru were sent to the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) lab in Gujarat for the first time. The NDDB report too did not confirm the presence of adulterants. No prasadam or laddus were made with adulterated items. The TTD Executive Officer (Shyamala Rao) reiterated this in July.
Since the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) came to power in June, there has been no development. Even Naidu’s “Super Six” guarantees have not been implemented and his government has not yet tabled a Budget as they are focused on “revenge politics”. Naidu sought to set a narrative to hide his government’s failures. They used God for their selfish motives.
Around 37 political murders have happened since Naidu came to power. Over 900 properties of YSRCP leaders were demolished while 2,000 families that supported the party have left the state. Officials too are being harassed and are facing false cases. Over 70 TTD employees got notices from the NDA government (over alleged corruption) and as nothing came out of it, they resorted to laddu politics.
We honour the Supreme Court and demand a fair probe by a sitting judge of the apex court or the CBI. The YSRCP rejects the SIT formed by the NDA government as it does not have the courage to go against Naidu.
The court’s observations show that the NDA government has resorted to communal politics and dragged God into it. It has damaged the purity of the Tirupati temple, leaving crores of devotees hurt.
People are sharing their grief with me. The NDA government has backstabbed them by making promises and not fulfilling them. To divert their attention, they are making baseless claims about the laddu.
The declaration is optional, depending on a person’s attire. The TTD is well within its right to ask for a declaration if someone is improperly dressed and goes with devotion but other times, it is not required. People of all communities visit the temple daily and are not being asked (for a declaration).
They are using his religion to create a divide between communities. Had he (Jagan) been a Hindu, the controversy would not have happened. More than 3,200 temples were built during the YSRCP government’s tenure. In Vijayawada, we rebuilt 14 temples the TDP had demolished.
With respect to Kalyan, his actions and statements are very immature. He is performing “penance” for something that has not happened.
Our chief has told us to reconstitute committees and the party from the grassroots level, fight for people, and stand by them. That process is underway.
While he was CM, he was focused on administration. With the village secretariat and volunteer systems, he made sure that villagers did not even need to come to the mandal for work. He also eliminated the role of politicians in disbursing welfare schemes. The TDP promised more welfare benefits and a few people got tempted.
We have almost 40% vote share. While we fought alone, three parties — TDP, JanaSena Party (JSP) and BJP — garnered similar vote share.
Nothing as of now but it will depend on the circumstances before the next elections. However, the Congress has no base in the state. It has a paltry vote share of 1.2%.
No defections have taken place at the local level, except in Visakhapatnam. Big leaders were threatened to join the TDP by targeting assets and businesses.
The TDP is trying its best to create and spread rumours. No one is leaving.
