Jagan Politicising Tirumala Declaration Issue: BJP

MP and Union Minister Bandi Sanjay today criticized former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy for claiming that dalits were being treated unjustly in Tirumala.

Sanjay claimed that dalits were the true protectors of the Hindu dharma, and accused Jagan of conspiring to convert dalits to Christianity by feigning affection for them and making false accusations like that.

Sanjay made these remarks during the inauguration of the newly constructed building of Sri Vidyaranya Avasa Vidyalayam at Bandlaguda Jagir in Hyderabad.

"When Indira Gandhi visited the Puri temple, she was denied entry because she had married a Parsi. Similarly, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was barred from entering the Pashupatinath temple in Nepal because she was a Christian. Did those mean that they were attacked? The Tirumala temple has had the rule that non-Hindus need to sign a declaration, for many years. Jagan is a Christian, and he should follow the rule of the temple," he said.

Sanjay implied that if at all any dalits had been refused entry into the Tirumala temple, it may have been in Jagan's rule, to disaffect them from Hinduism and convert them into Christianinty. He also alleged that even the TTD laddu prasadam had been adulterated during Jagan's rule, and that it was all part of a larger assault on Hindutva.

"It is the duty of every Hindu to stop this attack," he said.