The inauguration of the National Turmeric Board by Union minister Piyush Goyal in Nizamabad on Tuesday has not only brought hope for scores of turmeric farmers of the region, but also ended the long political battle between the BJP and BRS which stretched over several elections.
It marked a personal victory for BJP MP Arvind Dharmapuri who had once signed on a stamp paper vowing to bring the board to Nizamabad. Turmeric farmer and BJP leader Palle Ganga Reddy was appointed the chairman of the newly established board for three years.
The turmeric board has been a long-cherished dream of the farmers of Nizamabad. The golden spice is both a capital and labour-intensive crop.
In 2014, K Chandrasekhar Rao’s daughter Kalvakuntla Kavitha was elected as Nizamabad MP. The establishment of a turmeric board was a key poll promise. Despite her efforts, Kavitha failed to persuade the central government to establish a separate board for turmeric since there was already a spice board despite India being the largest producer, consumer, and exporter of turmeric.
However, in 2019, the Nizamabad Parliamentary seat saw a different electoral strategy from the BJP. While 200 turmeric farmers decided to file nominations from the seat as a token protest against Kavitha taking the BRS aback, Arvind Dharmapuri, the son of a Congress (then in TRS) heavyweight was given the BJP ticket.
Arvind was a political greenhorn, unknown to the electorate but readily signed on a bond paper giving an undertaking that the turmeric board would be set up in Nizamabad.
Though Kavitha lost the election and KCR’s image as the Telangana strongman was severely dented, there was no board for the farmers.
Arvind was only partially successful in setting up a regional office of the spice board at Nizamabad. The BRS and BJP continued to fight bitterly with flexes in the constituency asking Arvind where was the ‘Pasupu’ (turmeric) board he had promised. Finally, in October 2023 Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly announced the formation of a turmeric board though he did not specify Nizamabad.
However, BRS lost the Assembly elections and all fights fizzled out from Kavitha who did not contest the 2024 General Elections and faced arrest by the Enforcement Directorate just before the polls. Arvind won a second time and today stood beside the union minister when he inaugurated the turmeric board.
On the occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “This will ensure better opportunities for innovation, global promotion and value addition in turmeric production. It will strengthen the supply chains, benefiting both farmers and consumers alike.”
Union minister Piyush Goyal said, “We are looking to boost production to leverage the increasing popularity of turmeric globally as a kitchen essential and wellness product. Our aim is to strengthen the infrastructure, technologies, and skills in the turmeric value chain and preserve and propagate our age-old knowledge of this golden spice to help our farmers, exporters and economy benefit further.