“The Gujarat government has decided … the word dragon fruit is not appropriate, and it is associated with China. The fruit is shaped like a lotus, and so we have given it a new Sanskrit name, lotus. There is nothing political about this,” the Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani told the media on Tuesday.
The development comes just months after Modi praised farmers in a radio program for cultivating dragon fruit in the arid region of Kutch in Gujarat.
“The farmers then approached me and suggested naming the dragon fruit Kamalam,” Vinod Chavda, a BJP MP from Kutch, told Reuters. “I am glad that the state has accepted this proposal.”
There are more than 200 farmers in Kutch alone who grow dragon fruit on 1,500 acres, said Haresh Thackeray, a farmer in the region.
“The Indian name for the fruit will make us happier,” said Thackeray, who has been growing dragon fruit for five years. We think that if the fruit is seen as an Indian fruit, its acceptance level will also increase. “
The fruit is also grown in neighboring Maharashtra State and Northeast India. There is no indication that local governments are planning to change the name.
Opposition Congress calls name change a game.
Gujarat Congress spokesperson Manish Doshi said the government has nothing to show for its achievements and is trying to divert attention from the real issues.
.
