Amaravati (PTI): Dubbing the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister as a "habitual liar", YSR Congress chief YS Jagana Mohan Reddy on Sunday sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s intervention to reprimand Chandrababu Naidu over the Tirupati laddu adulteration issue.

In a letter addressed to PM Modi, Jagan alleged that CM Chandrababu Naidu has stooped so low as to hurt the beliefs of crores of people purely for political objectives.

Detailing the process undertaken at Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) the custodian of the super-rich shrine of Sri Venkateswara Swamy for accepting ghee, in an eight page letter, Jagan alleged that Naidu’s actions lowered not only the stature of CM but also that of everyone in public life, the sanctity of TTD and its practices.

“Sir, the entire country looks to you at this crucial juncture. It is very imperative that Mr Naidu be reprimanded in the severest way for his shameless act of spreading lies and the truth be brought to light. Sir, this would help allay the suspicions that Mr Naidu has created in the minds of crores of Hindu devotees and restore their faith in sanctity of TTD,” Jagan wrote in his letter.

Explaining the sequence of events, he said it is crucial to note that the ghee allegedly adulterated was rejected and not allowed to enter the premises of TTD. However, Naidu with malafide intention raised the issue at a political party meeting on September 18.

During an NDA legislative party meeting a few days ago, the TDP supremo claimed that the previous YSRCP government did not even spare Sri Venkateswara temple and used substandard ingredients and animal fat for making laddus.

Two days later on September 20, TTD Executive Officer J Shyamala Rao in a press conference said Lab tests had revealed the presence of animal fat and lard in chosen samples and the board is in the process of blacklisting the contractor who supplied “adulterated” ghee.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Bengaluru (PTI): The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has collected over Rs 19 lakh as a penalty from 10,069 passengers who were penalised for travelling without tickets and occupying seats exclusively reserved for ladies in the last three months, officials said on Thursday.

The checking staff of BMTC have intensified checking of buses operated in and around Bengaluru City to detect ticketless travelling by passengers, they said.

According to BMTC, during the months of August, September and October, the checking staff checked 57,219 trips and penalised 8,891 ticketless passengers by collecting Rs 17,96,030 as penalty and 5,268 cases were booked against conductors for their dereliction of duty.

During the same period, they have also penalised 1,178 male passengers for occupying seats exclusively reserved for lady passengers and imposed fines by collecting Rs 1,17,800 in accordance with the KMV (Karnataka Motor Vehicle) Rules of the MV Act of 1988.

"In total, during the months of August, September and October, 10,069 passengers were penalised and Rs 19,13,830 was collected," the BTMC officials stated.