Supporters of Telugu Desam president N. Chandrababu Naidu said Jagan entering Tirumala by violating the rules of the temple proved their contention that YSR had played havoc with the Tirumala temple “by making a non-believer (Mr Bhumana Karunakar Reddy) the TTD trust board chairman, apart from making an effort to realign the sacred Seven Hills of the Lord into two hills”. (Incidentally, Mr Karunakar Reddy is a Hindu, but his long association with the YSR family and his leftist orientation has led people to believe otherwise.)
Mr Karunakar Reddy, who is the YSR Congress candidate in the forthcoming Assembly elections, hit back by asking why Congress president Sonia Gandhi was not asked to make a declaration when she visited the temple. “YSR and his family members have immense faith in the Lord,” he said. He said that Mr Naidu was conspiring against the YSR family and had dragged it into a religious controversy for political mileage.
The BJP, the Left parties and religious forums jumped on to the bandwagon too and made political capital out of the incident. Though YSR regularly visited Tirumala temple, he had made a declaration only once. However, no one asked Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy to make a declaration when he had visited the temple when YSR was in power.