The government told Lok Sabha on Tuesday that Lumbaram Choudhary, a BJP MP from Jalore in Rajasthan, is another serving parliamentarian who obtained financial support under a central horticulture scheme in the past five years, besides Union Minister Bhagirath Choudhary. Records indicate that Lumbaram received Rs 4.20 lakh as subsidy to cultivate lemons on his six-acre plot in Vadeli village, Sirohi district. In a written response, Union Minister of State for Agriculture Ramnath Thakur stated that the amount was disbursed in 2025 under the scheme for commercial horticulture development through production and post-harvest management. The MP had applied in April 2021 while not yet elected, with funds transferred to his SBI account in January 2025. The project cost Rs 16.92 lakh, supported by a Rs 12.69 lakh loan. His Lok Sabha profile lists his occupations as agriculturist, farmer and LIC agent. He was elected MP in 2024 after serving on the Sirohi Zila Parishad and as BJP district president. Thakur also noted that Bhagirath Choudhary had returned a Rs 99 lakh subsidy for cucumber cultivation. The scheme falls under the Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, offering up to 50 per cent subsidy capped at Rs 1 crore. The reply responded to questions from Trinamool Congress MP Abhishek Banerjee on subsidies to ministers, MPs and their families, confirming no specific conflict-of-interest rules exist in the guidelines.
