Mamata Banerjee on Monday threw a poll-timed lifeline to Bengal’s potato farmers, promising that her government would not only compensate those hit by a price crash but also allow them to sell their produce beyond the state’s borders.
This marks a significant climbdown from the government's restriction on the sale of the crop outside Bengal, which caused displeasure and angst among cultivators and traders.
“Some potato cultivators are facing difficulties. Since we already have crop insurance, potato cultivators who have suffered losses will be compensated. We will purchase potatoes also. If farmers want to sell potatoes outside the state, they are free to do it,” the chief minister said at an election rally in Belda, West Midnapore.
With harvesting in full swing, a bumper production — estimated at a record 130 lakh tonnes, 20 lakh tonnes higher than last year — has caused market prices to plummet to ₹4 a kilo, nearly half the production cost of ₹7.50. While the state committed to buying 12 lakh tonnes at ₹9.50 a kilo, the rollout has been sluggish.
By addressing the agricultural crisis head-on, Mamata is seeking to neutralise a potent electoral threat. The problem of plenty threatened to turn the potato belt — comprising around 40 lakh electors, including 15 lakh directly employed as potato farmers across Hooghly, East Burdwan, Birbhum, and West Midnapore — against the Trinamool Congress.
The chief minister’s green light for interstate trade is a tactical pivot. In 2023-24, Nabanna disrupted the supply chain by banning exports to Bihar, Odisha, and Jharkhand to keep local prices low. However, that policy backfired, allowing Uttar Pradesh to capture those markets and leaving Bengal’s traders and cold storage owners facing massive losses.
Mamata also underscored her proposed special agriculture budget of ₹30,000 crore.
“There will be a separate budget for farmers,” she said. Calling farmers the “annadata (rice/food providers)", her party has pitched a vision where fiscal autonomy for the agrarian sector would boost rural livelihoods.
Pivoting from the muddy ridges of the potato fields to the power corridors of the Raisina Hills, Mamata later shifted her offensive to the "feudal lords" of Delhi, attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah as riot-mongers who seized power through the venom of communal divide.
"The first chargesheet should be served to them," she said, jeering at Shah's chargesheet against her 15-year rule, released on Saturday.
In a high-decibel diatribe at Debra, the Trinamool chief accused the BJP of attempting a cultural annihilation following the electoral annexation of the state.
"The feudal lords of Delhi have snatched all powers from my hands," she thundered. "After winning Bengal, we will unite everyone... go around the country, and then capture Delhi."
Alleging that the Election Commission and the BJP were working in tandem to disenfranchise "mothers, sisters", specifically Bengali-speakers, she demanded revenge through the EVMs.
From invoking Vidyasagar’s broken bust to questioning the Sangh parivar's dubious role in the freedom struggle, her manifesto was clear: the road to Delhi must be paved with the preservation of the Bengal ethos.
"Forget about the candidate's caste, creed and religion. Support our candidates to strengthen us. Even if one BJP candidate wins, the BJP will try to snatch everything from you," she warned.
"They have ruined the country. They spread lies and loot the country," she added. "The way the BJP is running the country, I think its days in Delhi are numbered."