As chief minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi may have extolled the virtues of genetically modified (GM) crops, after his happy experience in the state, but as prime minister, he is finding it extremely tough to carry along even his party on the issue. Encouraged, and perhaps egged on, by the RSS and affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch’s (SJM’s) opposition to GM crops, various BJP-ruled states like Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have upped their protest against GM mustard even though the bio-safety panel of the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) has approved Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 developed by the scientists led by former Delhi University vice-chancellor Deepak Pental.
