SIT probe over laddu issue insufficient, needs SC monitored investigation: YSRCP leader Rambabu

Guntur: Senior YSRCP leader and former irrigation minister Ambati Rambabu on Tuesday said an SIT probe ordered by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu into the alleged Tirupati laddu adulteration case is insufficient and called for a Supreme Court monitored investigation.

On Sunday, Naidu ordered an SIT probe to be headed by an inspector general (IG) rank or a higher cadre officer into the alleged mixing of animal fats for making Tirupati laddus during the erstwhile YSRCP government.

"The chief minister's decision to order an inquiry through a DIG (IG) was laughable and insufficient... SIT probe is inadequate, the issue should be investigated under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court," said Rambabu, addressing a press conference here.

Earlier, P Sudhakar Reddy, former additional advocate general, noted that the truth in the laddu allegations should not emanate from an investigation agency working under Naidu.

Reddy is the arguing counsel of former Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) chairman Y V Subba Reddy, who petitioned the High Court recently over the laddu controversy.

Subba Reddy has called for any of the three options to investigate the issue -- a sitting judge of the High Court or the constitution of a committee by the court or a CBI probe.

"The truth should not come out from an investigating agency working under him (Naidu). Because he had already cast the die. He has already set a road for him so we want any of the above three options," said Reddy.

Asserting that the CM made baseless allegations, Rambabu alleged that Naidu did not follow basic Hindu customs when his parents passed away.

Questioning the intention behind Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan's 11-day penance to propitiate Lord Venkateswara over the alleged laddu sacrilege, Rambabu asked the Janasena founder as to why there was no outcry when temples were allegedly demolished under the TDP regime, hinting at the period between 2014 and 2019.

Further, he demanded why there was no action when Janasena MLA, Pantam Nanaji, recently allegedly assaulted a Dalit professor.

The YSRCP leader also questioned why neither Naidu nor Kalyan agreed to a Supreme Court monitored-investigation into the laddu issue as suggested by Subramanian Swamy.

Meanwhile, YSRCP leader Pothina Venkata Mahesh alleged that the NDA government in the southern state is exploiting the Tirumala laddu issue for political dividends.

He alleged that Kalyan's actions such as penance and others were further fuelling the controversy than resolving it.