“The government of Gujarat has decided … the word dragon fruit is not appropriate and is associated with China. The fruit’s shape is like a lotus, which is why we gave it a new Sanskrit name, kamalam. nothing political. “Gujarat Minister Vijay Rupani told the media on Tuesday.
The development comes a few months after Modi praised farmers in a radio program for growing the dragon fruit in the arid region of Kutch in Gujarat.
“After that, the farmers approached me and suggested changing the name of dragon fruit to kamalam,” KJP BJP MP Vinod Chavda told Reuters. “I’m glad the state accepted the proposal.”
There are more than 200 farmers in Kutch alone who grow dragon fruit from more than 1,500 acres, said Haresh Thakkar, a farmer from the region.
“The Indian name of the fruit will give us more happiness. We feel that the acceptance level of the fruit will also increase when looking at an Indian fruit,” says Thakkar, who has been growing dragon fruit for five years.
The fruit is also grown in the neighboring state of Maharashtra and in the northeast of India. There was no sign that local governments there were planning any name change.
The opposition congress calls the name change a ploy.
“The government has nothing worth showing as achievements, and is trying to divert attention from real issues,” said Manish Doshi, spokesman for the Gujarat Congress.