Potato glut in UP with Yogi Adityanth's arrival, says minister

LUCKNOW: The bumper potato harvest this time around in Uttar Pradesh increased with the arrival of Yogi Adityanath at the helm, if one goes by state horticulture minister.

The minister Dara Singh Chauhan's reply to a question on potato production in the House evoked peals of laughter from members of the House.

"Potato production increased with the arrival of Yogi government in the state," Singh said in reply to SP member Nitin Agarwal's question on potato production and storage facilities.

This led to a banter in the House and even the chief minister was seen smiling.

SP member Shailendra Yadav, however, found the reply absurd.

Yadav claimed that out of the 325 legislators of the BJP and Apna Dal, 200 were turncoats who shifted loyalties during polls and such persons were giving absurd replies.

In his reply later, the minister said that in UP there were 1,708 cold storages having a capacity of 130.26 lakh MT, which can accommodate 84 per cent of the potato produced.

He said 120.29 lakh MT potato have been kept in cold storage this year.

When the member said that potato farmers were forced to commit suicide, Chauhan said there was no such incident.