India, Dec. 7 -- Alphonso, or Hapus, mango growers along Maharashtra's Konkan coast have been an embittered lot since they learnt that a coastal district in south Gujarat is looking to share their light. Alphonso, celebrated as the 'king of mangoes' from the Konkan belt, received the Geographical Indication (GI) in 2018. On Saturday, the mango war received political heft, even as it exacerbated the anxieties of mango growers, when NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar tweeted that two universities from Gujarat -- Navsari Agricultural University and Gandhinagar University - have sought the same recognition for the Valsad Hapus.

According to Pawar, the Gujarat universities applied for GI tag for the Valsadi Hapus, a distinct variety of mangoes, under t...