Another BJP MP defends tobacco, says ‘no proof smoking causes cancer’

NEW DELHI: Yet another BJP lawmaker has come out in defence of tobacco industry and said that smoking does not have any negative impact on health.

According to NDTV, BJP MP from Assam, Ram Prasad Sarmah has said that whether or not smoking causes cancer is debatable.

To substantiate his claim, the BJP MP says, “I know two elderly people who drank a bottle of alcohol and smoked 60 cigarettes every day. One is still alive, the other died at 86.”

Earlier, a huge controversy broke out over comments by a parliamentary panel head and BJP MP Dilip Gandhi that there was no Indian study to confirm tobacco use leads to cancer, leaving the government embarrassed and rival parties and the medical fraternity gunning for him.
Gandhi, an MP from Maharashtra, was also described as “foolish” and “ignorant” for his “shocking and absurd” remarks that coincided with the April 1 deadline for increasing size of pictorial warnings on tobacco products being deferred by the government amid demands by various tobacco lobbies.

Sarmah is the third parliamentarian from the ruling BJP to side with the tobacco industry.

BJP leader Shyam Charan Gupta had also backed MP Dilip Gandhi’s comment.