Prasadam row: Pawan Kalyan begins his journey on foot to Tirumala temple

Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Tuesday evening began his journey to Tirumala temple on foot. After performing puja at Alipiri Padala Mandapam, he began his journey to the famous hill shrine.

He will end his 11-day 'Praschit Deeksha' (penance) for alleged adulteration of animal fat in Tirupati laddu after darshan at Sri Venkateswara temple, also known as Balaji temple, on Wednesday.

A large number of leaders and workers of Jana Sena and its allies Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) reached Alipiri to welcome the actor-politician.

The Jana Sena chief began his foot march amid tight security by the police and Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD).

After darshan, Pawan Kalyan will also visit Anna Prasadam centre, where devotees are offered free meals.

Pawan Kalyan began the 'Deeksha' at the Sri Dasavatara Venkateswara Swamy temple in Nambur, Guntur district on September 22 after performing puja and rituals conducted by the priests.

The actor-politician said after the Deeksha, he would seek the blessings of Lord Sri Venkateswara Swamy in Tirumala to pray to God to give him the strength to cleanse the sins committed by past rulers.

The Deputy Chief Minister said he was personally pained over the use of ghee adulterated with fish oil and animal fat for Laddu Prasdam and hence he undertook the 'Praschit Deekhsha'.

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had claimed on September 18 that ghee adulterated with animal fat was used in making laddu prasadam during the YSR Congress party regime.

The state government also constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the allegations.

However, on Tuesday, Director General of Police Dwaraka Tirumala Rao announced that SIT was temporarily suspending its probe following the Supreme Court order.

The Supreme Court had said on Monday that there is currently nothing to show that animal fat was used in the preparation of Tirupati laddus during the previous YSR Congress regime led by (former Chief Minister) Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

It verbally asked SIT to "hold its hands" till October 3, the next day of the hearing.

The apex court said Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu should have 'kept the gods away from politics' before rushing in to make public statements based on unsure facts that lard was used to prepare the laddus in the previous regime.

Headed by Guntur range Inspector General of Police (IG) Sarvashresth Tripathi, the SIT conducted probe for last three days. On Monday, it inspected ghee tankers and the lab at Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD).

The SIT spoke to TTD officials concerned about the method they adopt to check the quality of the materials they procure. They enquired about the quality check procedure followed in respect of ghee.