JOIN USDakshina Kannada DCC spokesperson A C Vinayraj accused the Central government of failing to withdraw an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court on a report claiming carcinogenic content in arecanut, even after four years of coming to power.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, he said, "Narendra Modi, during his visit to the coastal districts as a part of election campaign during the last Lok Sabha elections, had promised to withdraw the affidavit on arecanut. Believing Modi, several arecanut growers voted for the BJP, however, even after four years, the arecanut growers are in distress."
Vinayraj expressed dissatisfaction over the statement made by Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel in the Lok Sabha on December 22, 2017 that consumption of supari would lead to oral squamous cancer.
He urged Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel to release the documents pertaining to raising of any question related to arecanut growers and withdrawal of the affidavit in the Supreme Court. The Union government should provide statistics to prove carcinogenic content in arecanut, the spokesperson demanded.
Communal harmony
He appealed to BJP national president Amit Shah not to trigger any communal disturbances through provocative speeches in Dakshina Kannada.
Launching a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah for their allegations of rampant corruption in Karnataka, he urged Shah to release documents to prove corruption in Karnataka. Further, he said it was Amit Shah's son who was involved in corruption that led to a multi-fold increase in his business fortunes.
He urged Amit Shah to allow the enforcement directorate to conduct a probe into the corruption allegations on his son.
Vinayraj also sought to know why Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley are silent on the Punjab National Bank's scandal. "Although the BJP manifesto had promised to create two crore jobs annually, Amit Shah, while addressing students at Puttur should clarify on the number of jobs created during the NDA tenure in the Centre," demanded the spokesperson.