NCP takes dig at BJP over Gujarat’s bid to rename dragon fruit

"There is nothing political behind renaming of the fruit", Rupani added. "So we have given it the name "Kamalam"," he said.

The CM also said it is the most expensive fruit available in the market at this time.

"As the outer shape of the fruit resembles a lotus, hence Dragon Fruit shall be renamed as Kamalam", the Chief Minister was quoted by news agency ANI as saying. The fruit will henceforth be known as kamalam in the state, said Rupani, who is from the BJP.

Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Wednesday took potshots at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for renaming dragon fruit as Kamalam in Gujarat.

"After that the farmers had approached me, and suggested changing the name of dragon fruit to kamalam", Vinod Chavda, the BJP Member of Parliament from Kutch, told Reuters. "The word "Kamalam" is a Sanskrit word and the fruit does have the shape similar to the lotus flower, so we have made a decision to call it "Kamalam" ", he said, stressing that "renaming of the fruit has nothing political about it".

Meanwhile, the move has evoked sharp comments on social media platforms evoking derision to sarcastic digs while netizens running hashtag #SanskariFruitSabzi as one of the top trending topic on Twitter.

However, he was quick to trash any attempts to draw parallels with the state BJP headquarters in Gujarat, which is also named Kamalam.

Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena, which leads the Maharashtra alliance, posted: "Hallelujah!" Looks like our priority for the nation is set. We were not satisfied renaming the cities, we need to rename vegetables and fruits too.