Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said her government has taken up with the Centre the issue of fertiliser crisis faced by the farming community in the state.
Banerjee said she has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the issue of fertiliser supply to the state, “as Bengal is getting only one-third of the allotted quota from the Centre”.
“We are not getting adequate quantity of fertilisers. This is causing great hardship to our farmers. I would urge the opposition to raise the issue with the union fertiliser minister,” she said in the assembly.
However, as soon as the CM left the House and the first half neared its end, BJP MLAs stood up and demanded an adjournment motion be taken up to debate on spiralling fertiliser prices and alleged blackmarketing.
The demand was, however, turned down by Speaker Biman Bandyopadhyay.
Led by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and Asansol South MLA Agnimitra Paul, the BJP legislators then shouted slogans on the floor of the House as the first session ended, and trooped out of the assembly hall.
“I have irrefutable evidence to show how despite large allocation of funds from the Centre, the ruling party functionaries in villages are pocketing at least 50 percent of the fertiliser allocation, and selling those at high prices in the open market.
“We cannot support corruption. The government should first take strong action against the TMC leaders at the local level,” Adhikari later told reporters.
He also claimed that by December, all those involved in siphoning off funds in the state will be put behind bars.
Meanwhile, TMC state spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said Adhikari, who “himself is involved in scams” and joined the BJP to “escape arrests” by central agencies, has no right to lecture on corruption.
West Bengal minister and senior TMC leader Sashi Panja told PTI in the assembly lobby that the BJP is regularly causing disruption in the House, as it does not want development issues to be discussed.
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Neha Khan | 
