Hyderabad: After the Centre denied Turmeric Board for Telangana in the Parliament on Wednesday, turmeric farmers in the state held a unique protest against the BJP MP Dharampuri Arvind over his unfulfilled promises.
Hoardings mocking the MP were placed across the city while the farmers held that Arvind, Union minister Rajnath Singh and BJP leader Ram Madhav had promised turmeric farmers of Nizamabad to set up turmeric board during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The Union minister of state for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel, on Wednesday, told Parliament that there is no proposal to set up a Turmeric Board or any other spice-specific board in the country.
This statement from the Centre triggered the farmers who have been demanding for the board to be set up for the past four years.
Angered over the denial, they placed posters highlighting the MP’s failure to convince the Central government and secure a Turmeric Board in the state.
Following the declaration, former Nizamabad MP and BRS MLC K Kavitha also accused Arvind to have failed to keep his word and also for making extravagant claims of allocating Rs 100 crores while only Rs 100 was given to each farmer.
BJP MP Arvind had promised Turmeric Board for the state in 2019
The demand to have a separate board for turmeric farmers from the Nizamabad district has been simmering for years, which also resulted in BRS (then TRS) MLC and ex-MP from Nizamabad K Kavitha losing her seat during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Miffed over their demand not being met, about 180 farmers also contested the poll then, which led to incumbent BJP MP Dharmapuri Arvind winning.
BJP MP Arvind won from the Nizamabad seat in 2019 on promises of getting a turmeric board for farmers in the Nizamabad district.
The BJP MP even stated that he would resign from his position in Parliament and join the farmers’ and people’s campaign if he couldn’t keep his word. Arvind made the promise in writing in March 2019 and even signed it with a non-judicial (bond) stamp.
His associates printed copies of the pledge and distributed them throughout the turmeric-growing regions of the Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency. Senior BJP leaders who supported the pledge included defence minister Rajnath Singh, Ram Madhav, and others.
However, the promise remained unfulfilled with turmeric farmers dumping their produce in front of Arvind’s residence in May 2022 in Nizamabad as a mark of protest for failing to bring a turmeric board for the district.
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