Bhubaneswar, July 26: "The import of potatoes will resume in next two days," said Odisha Food Supplies Minister Krushna Chandra Patra, Friday.

The statement came from Patra after an emergency meeting, which was called following the West Bengal Govt's restriction on potato-laden trucks. Hundreds of trucks were denied entry to Odisha by the West Bengal Police following the order of TMC-led Govt. The trucks are halted at Odisha-West Bengal border.

"Odisha Govt has already held talks with West Bengal Govt over the issue. Farmer protests were going on in West Bengal since July 21. The protests, however, have already ended July 24," said Patra, adding: "The trucks will resume their operations in the next couple of days."

Patra said that "potatoes in stock will last for seven days" considering the demand in the state. The Food Supplies Minister also issued a warning to potato traders, saying: "The traders, who say that they are getting the potatoes for Rs 40/kg, show the receipt/bill. If the traders sell potatoes more thatn Rs 32/kg, strict action will be taken against them."

Patra also slammed Leader of Opposition (LoP) Naveen Patnaik for his interference on this issue. Naveen had reportedly written a letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the issue. Patra has termed the move by Naveen as "dirty politics".

"Do not do dirty politics with such moves. You didn't even build a cold storage in the state in 24 years. The 'Potato Mission' and  'Onion Mission' have failed. Your Govt has failed in everything. So people of Odisha failed you. Writing a letter doesn't solve a problem. So why such moves?" said Patra. 

Earlier, Patra had inspected potato godowns in the morning. "I have inspected the market this morning. The price is still reasonable. I have bought 5 kgs for 135," he said. "We raided a potato godown finding out they have set a price of Rs 27/kg. It means the retail price should not exceed Rs 32/kg," Patra added, issuing a warning to swindling traders.

Read More: Odisha News