Andhra Pradesh deputy CM Pawan Kalyan reached Tirumala on foot as part of his 11-day penance over the alleged adulteration of laddus served at the Tirupati temple with animal fat. The actor-turned-politician undertook a three-hour foot march to reach the Lord Venkateswara temple in Tirumala to position himself as a protector of the Sanatana Dharma. Reacting to the Supreme Court’s observation on the prasadam contamination issue, Kalyan clarified that the Apex Court had never said that prasadam “was not adulterated”. “I think the SC judges didn’t say that it was unadulterated, they said there was confusion regarding the date on which it was cleared.” Earlier speaking in Tamil to a private channel, the Andhra leader made it clear that the prasadam issue was not being blown out of proportion just to settle scores with YSRCP leader Jagan Mohan Reddy because he was Christian. “My wife is also an orthodox Christian. I am undertaking this penance only to protect our Sanatan Dharma. I cannot tell you how Hindus across the world are hurt with the way TTD had reduced Tirumala to a money spinning vehicle during the tenure of Jagan Reddy. Until 1953, did you know darshan used to be free? Now for the special darshan, they began charging everyone Rs 10,000 but handed the devotees only a receipt of Rs 500. We have to undertake a lot of reforms and audits of how donations made to the temple are used. All kinds of violations happened in the last 5 years. It is not just about the prasadam issue.”