Lucknow: Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Singh Yadav on Monday, alleged that the Uttar Pradesh government was not purchasing potatoes from the farmers in the State.
Taking to Twitter, the SP leader said the government, "Aaloo khareed lo sarkaar! (Please buy the potatoes...)."
"How long will the food provider (farmer) remain in queue, waiting for a better day! How long will the potato farmer remain helpless?" the SP leader added. Notably, the farmers in UP have been complaining that potato prices have spiralled downwards.
Due to an excessive supply of potatoes, prices have fallen down to half from a year earlier in several states including Uttar Pradesh.
The farmers are staring at a loss as the wholesale price have dipped below the production cost. As per some reports, the common variety of potatoes is priced Rs 12-15 a kg, while the better variety is fetching Rs 18-19, which is half as compared to the last year.
Notably, the sowing of potatoes usually begins in November, and the crop is harvested subsequently in the month of January.
As per some reports, Uttar Pradesh, which is the largest producer of the potato crop, has witnessed a 15 per cent increase in production in the latest crop season compared with a year earlier, when the state had produced 15.5 million tonnes of potatoes.
Meanwhile, earlier in the day, former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav also attacked the UP government over the Amethi double murder case.
Alleging that cases of double-murders have increased, the SP supremo took a jibe at BJP, which is in power both in the State and at the Centre.
Taking on Twitter, the former UP CM said, "Under the so-called double-engine BJP government, the cases of double murders have increased. In the Amethi case, neither the victim's family is getting any help nor jobs."
"The truth is that there is a need for real double sympathy rather than the false double engine," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.
The matter pertains to the February 27 incident in Amethi, where two persons were shot dead by bike-borne assailants near the Bhaddaur village. Â
—ANI