Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council on Wednesday witnessed acrimony during the discussion on TTD laddu prasadam, with ruling party members finding fault with the Opposition YSRC for relaxing norms for procurement of ghee during the previous regime, which resulted in the prasadam’s adulteration.
A procedural wrangle ensued again when council chairman Koyye Moshenu Raju allowed a short discussion on TTD laddu prasadam. Legislative Affairs minister Payyavula Keshav and civil supplies minister Nadendla Monohar demanded that Endowments minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy be allowed to first make a statement, while the chairman wanted a member to start the discussion on the issue.
The ministers claimed that Moshenu Raju will set a bad precedent by taking up both the short discussion and also the statement by the minister on the same subject of TTD laddu prasadam.
However, the chairman underlined that the short discussion on the subject had been initiated earlier. The present debate will be a continuation of the discussion. Moshenu Raju allotted 60 minutes on the subject, with 30 minutes for YSRC, 20 minutes for ruling party members and 10 minutes for the minister to make a statement.
The chairman asked independent member Chandrasekhar Reddy to begin the discussion. Accordingly, he started speaking on the subject and linked Indapur Dairy to the Heritage Foods and alleged financial irregularities in fixation of the price for supply of ghee to the TTD. Minister Keshav immediately raised objection, calling it unrelated to the subject of the discussion.
Chandrasekhar Reddy then quoted Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu as saying that the ghee supplied to TTD for preparing laddu prasadam had been adulterated with animal fat.
Agriculture minister K. Atchannaidu intervened saying that the CM had only disclosed the content of the report submitted by the Special Investigation Team and other agencies. The minister ruled out any link of Heritage Foods with supply of adulterated ghee or Indapur Dairy.
With both the ruling and the opposition members blaming each other on the issue, minister Keshav asked Moshenu Raju to ensure that the discussion focus on the laddu issue without raising political and personal remarks.
Education minister N. Lokesh wanted Opposition members to come up with evidence before making any allegations and said that the CBI chargesheet mentioned about adulteration of the ghee. “We have great respect for Lord Venkateswara of Tirumala. When we go there, we go through the queue complex to take darshan of the Lord even though we have a privilege to take direct darshan. Every year, we support Annadanam at TTD to mark the birthday of Devansh on March 21. That is the devotion we have towards Lord Venkateswara,” Lokesh stated.
The education minister went on to point out that former CM Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy does not even sign the formal declaration of having faith in Lord Venkateswara.
Minister Atchannaidu kicked up a row, calling chairman Moshenu Raju and former CM Jagan as Christians. Moshenu Raju made it clear that he is a devout Hindu, raised objections over Atchannaidu calling him a Christian without knowing facts.
Following this, opposition members climbed up the podium demanding an apology from the minister. Subsequently, Atchannaidu withdrew his remark on the chairman, admitting his mistake.
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