Former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and YSR Congress party president YS Jagan Mohan Reddy appears to have been caught between a rock and a hard place in the ongoing Tirupati Laddu adulteration fiasco that may impact his political career to a great extent in the coming years. The allegations levelled against him by the current government will have far-reaching effect given the outburst in the public over mismanagement of the TTD board that runs the biggest Hindu temple in the country.
Faced with the allegations over the adulteration of laddu prasadam and unable to counter the claims of Chandrababu Naidu’s government, Jagan decided to visit Tirumala Hills on Saturday and offer prayers to put an end to the ongoing controversy over his religious affiliations and faith in Hinduism despite the fact that he preaches Christianity. It seemed like Jagan wanted to prove that he respects Venkateswara Swamy and also firm on sending out a strong message that people are backing him in this issue.
Immediately after Jagan announced his decision to visit Tirupati, Hindutva groups and NDA supporters insisted him to sign on the declaration before seeking the darshan of the god. There have been many allegations that Jagan flouted the rules prescribed for non-Hindus and visited Tirupati by misusing his power as Chief Minister.
As there is no way he could skip this step this time, many believed that Jagan would sign the declaration and put an end to the entire episode and get ready to fight against the government on this sensitive issue. Even his party supporters and leaders felt that Jagan will gain political mileage by visiting Tirupati as he will draw the attention of the entire nation.
Surprisingly, Jagan ditched his plans at the last minute and shocked everyone with his decision to call off the visit. He immediately held a press meet and tried to blame the government for creating hurdles to his visit. He alleged that the government didn’t allow him to seek the blessings of the god and tried to create a controversy out of it. He also spilled the beans that he reads Bible inside the four walls.
Jagan’s decision to cancel the trip can be viewed as a big blunder because it now gives more chance for his opponents to attack him for failing to follow the rules enforced for people from other religions visiting Tirupati. Moreover, he cannot enter the temple in future without giving the declaration.
Also, his baseless statements during the press meet that Dalits may be not allowed inside temples received severe backlash from all quarters because there have been no such instances anywhere in the state. By cancelling his trip, Jagan failed to counter his political opponents and also couldn’t win the trust of the people.
