Forced to drop his planned visit to Tirumala temple following demands from his political rivals for declaration of faith, former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Friday said that humanity is his religion.
“Humanity is my religion. If you want to have a declaration on that please go ahead and have it as mine,” he told a news conference while announcing that he is postponing his visit to Tirumala temple as he does not want to allow Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to divert the issue as he was exposed with his lies on adulteration of laddu prasadam.
Questioning the silence of the BJP, the YSR Congress Party chief said if the BJP was sincere as the representatives of Hindutva values, it should publicly reprimand Chandrababu Naidu and send him to jail for bringing down the reputation of Lord Venkateswara Swamy and prasadam for political gains by spreading lies.
“I tell those people who want to know my religion. Everybody in Andhra Pradesh knows who I am. Everybody in this country knows who I am and who my father is. Everybody also knows how many times I have been to Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam before and after becoming the chief minister,” he said.
Recalling that he accompanied the Prime Minister, the President and the Chief Justice of India to the temple and offered clothes to Lord Venkateswara on Brahmotsavam for five years, he asked why nobody then asked him about his faith.
“If somebody were to ask what my religion is, I once again reiterate to everybody. Between the four walls of my house, I read the Bible. When I go out of the house, I am a Hindu, I am a Muslim and I am also a Sikh. I practise their religions. I respect their religions,” he said.
Reading out the preamble of the Constitution of India, the YSRCP leader said everyone should seriously start contemplating where they stand on secularism.
“A person visiting a temple needs to disclose his religion before he is permitted to enter the temple. What kind of secularism is this? What kind of secular country are we living in?” he asked.
“If a former chief minister and someone who visited Tirumala not once but 10 times before is being given these kinds of notices for political reasons, barring him from entering temples what about the poor, what about Dalits? Can they enter these temples? What kind of message we are sending? What is BJP doing? Is this what they stand for?” Jagan Mohan Reddy asked while displaying notices served on YSRCP leaders and cadres.
He slammed the BJP for allowing a person like Chandrababu Naidu who was misusing power and bringing down the reputation of the temple and prasadam and lying for political gains was allowed to go scot-free.
“Because he is a part of NDA, is he at liberty to spread these kinds of lies? How can BJP support such a person instead of sending him to jail,” he asked.
“Why is the BJP sitting silent? The worst thing is BJP has joined the party bandwagon. BJP leaders from Hyderabad have come down to Tirupati. They are trying to cover up Naidu’s crime and deviate the issue from laddu to my declaration,” he said.