Kolkata, Sep 22 (IANS): BJP Lok Sabha member from Purulia constituency Jyotirmay Singh Mahato has accused the West Bengal government of artificially jacking up onion prices in the state by sealing the borders with neighbouring Jharkhand.
Mahato on Sunday wrote a letter to the Union Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Pralhad Joshi, accusing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of playing the lead role in sealing the state's border.
In his letter, Mahato has also accused the Chief Minister of using the flood water released from Jharkhand as an "excuse" to seal the national highways.
After being sealed for a couple of days, the state borders between West Bengal and Jharkhand have been opened now.
"Despite the recent reopening of the Jharkhand-West Bengal border, onion prices have soared dramatically, with rates ranging from 745 to 760 per kilogram, and rising further by the day. This inflation is no accident -- it is a deliberate result of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's calculated manipulation of the market. The blockade, which was initially attributed to flood-related concerns, has now exposed itself as a smokescreen for a much larger conspiracy aimed at creating an artificial scarcity of essential goods,” Mahato claimed in his letter to Joshi.
According to Mahato, this was done deliberately to nourish the “politically connected hoarders-many of whom are close allies” of the Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress.
“These individuals, who control the cold storage and wholesale supply chains, have strategically used the border blockade to restrict the supply of onions, allowing them to hoard large quantities and drive up prices. This is not just a case of market manipulation, but a blatant violation of both the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and the Prevention of Black Marketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act, 1980,” Mahato’s letter to Joshi read.
According to Mahato, although the flood situation has been cited as the reason for the border closure, it bears no correlation to the extent of the disruption.
He has also requested Joshi to conduct a detailed probe into the political connections behind the hoarding and price manipulation of onions in West Bengal and enforce strict penalties under the Essential Commodities Act and Prevention of Black Marketing Act