Endowments Minister Anam Ramanarayana Reddy strongly criticised former chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for calling the Tirumala Parakamani theft a small incident. He said Jagan insulted the sanctity of the TTD and hurt the faith of millions of devotees. Anam questioned how a man who stole seventy thousand rupees could suddenly offer assets worth several crores as compensation. He claimed that continuous thefts took place during Jagan’s rule and that the person caught on CCTV was only a minor part of a much larger network. He added that even sacred prasadam was mishandled and that people had already seen the damage caused during five years of misrule.

Anam said Jagan’s comments were malicious and compared them to a thief accusing another thief. He argued that Jagan placed his close associates across systems to enable widespread exploitation. He assured that the present coalition government would dismantle every remaining element of the “mafia empire” created under the previous regime.

BJP state president PVN Madhav also condemned Jagan’s remarks. He asked how stealing offerings made by devotees could ever be labelled a small theft. He demanded an investigation into why CCTV cameras failed at the Parakamani. AP Biodiversity Board Chairman Neelayapalem Vijay Kumar accused Jagan of mocking Hindu temples and demanded an apology for hurting religious sentiments.

Jagan earlier defended his stance by claiming only nine dollars were stolen and that the thief’s family donated assets worth fourteen crore rupees. His explanation triggered widespread criticism. Union Minister Srinivasa Varma also rebuked Jagan for spreading false claims about the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant and said the Centre had already sanctioned funds to strengthen it.