Shivamogga district unit of the Congress party has alleged that Shivamogga Lok Sabha member B.Y. Raghavendra of the BJP maintained silence in parliament on the issues bothering areca growers in the district. The MP did not raise his voice when the Union Government procured areca nuts from Bhutan or when areca was termed carcinogenic.
B.A. Ramesh Hegde, spokesperson of the party, said the Health Ministers in the Narendra Modi-led government twice stated that arecanut was carcinogenic. The first time Anupriya Patel, then Minister of State for Health, made such a statement in parliament was in 2017. Again, Ashwin Kumar Choube reiterated the same in 2019. On both occasions, Mr. Raghavendra was in parliament representing Shivamogga, the district known for areca growing. “He did not open his mouth. Besides that, the MP did not oppose when the Centre imported 17,000 metric tonnes of areca from Bhutan to facilitate gutka companies in Uttar Pradesh,” he said.
Further, Mr. Hegde said Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during his visit to Tirthahalli ahead of Lok Sabha polls in 2019, promised that a research centre on areca would be set up in Shivamogga by spending ₹500 crore. “The areca growers supported the BJP in the election. However, the promise remained unfulfilled. So far, Raghavendra too has not raised his voice to get the party’s promise fulfilled, he said.
Another spokesperson and former MP Ayanur Manjunath said people displaced due to the Sharavathi Valley hydroelectric project in Shivamogga would rebel against the Lok Sabha member if he failed to get them justice from the Centre. “Mr. Raghavendra has asked a question about the denotification of forest land meant for rehabilitation of displaced people. The Centre has said the Supreme Court’s approval is required for denotification. Besides raising a question in parliament, Mr. Raghavendra has not done anything for the people,” he said.
Mr. Manjunath said that as a representative of Shivamogga it was Raghavendra’s responsibility to get a suitable proposal from the State Government forwarded to the Centre and ensure it was approved by the centre.
District Congress Committee president H.S. Sundaresh and others were present at the press conference.
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