The Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) stepped up its attack on Nizamabad MP Dharmapuri Arvind, accusing him of deceiving the people of Nizamabad on the Turmeric Board, and now securing a ‘useless’ regional centre of the Spices Board of India. The focussed attack on Arvind Dharmapuri started from New Delhi where TRS MPs K. Keshav Rao, Nama Nageshwar Rao, Joginapally Santosh Kumar and Banda Prakash said farmers of Nizamabad never demanded a spices board but the Turmeric Board that Mr. Arvind promised during the election campaign.
The MPs said that Mr. Arvind had changed his stand and was welcoming the Spices Board regional office that would serve no purpose, and it was a mere eyewash to divert the strong backlash expected from the farmers, they said.
The MPs said they had earlier met Union Minister Piyush Goyal and got a written assurance on setting up a turmeric centre and a turmeric cell. Now, instead of upgrading it to Turmeric Board, the BJP has started a drama with a regional office of Spices Board, they alleged. Armoor MLA A. Jeevan Reddy at a press conference here criticised Mr. Arvind stating that he promised biryani but served stale food. People of Nizamabad have seen through his misleading tactics and they will teach him a lesson, he said. Mr. Reddy claimed that the former MP of Nizamabad K. Kavita had made best of efforts to get the Turmeric Board during her tenure but the BJP government was unwilling to sanction it. In fact, she even moved a bill in Parliament on the same issue, he said.
He said the desire for a Turmeric Board in Nizamabad existed since 1986 and he had even held a padayatra on this issue much before he was elected as a MLA. “What is the use of Spices Board office when six such boards exist in the country,” he asked. Mr. Arvind should stay for four years in New Delhi only and get the Turmeric Board sanctioned, he demanded.
Congress MLC and senior leader T. Jeevan Reddy too expressed his displeasure over the government denying Turmeric Board when the people’s demand was for it.
