Mamata Banerjee’s tab on agri commodity prices makes Bengal traders jittery

KOLKATA: Traders in Bengal are a worried lot. Keeping elections in mind, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had given a diktat to the trading community to keep a check on the prices of agri commodities just before the election dates were declared.And she had asked the chief secretary to take stock of the situation every fortnight, which has now become a major concern for the traders as prices are already inching upwards."Didi had told us to keep prices under check as the elections are round the corner. But it will be difficult for us to keep prices under control. There may not be rude shocks but prices will definitely not be on the lower side as the summer has already set in," said Dilip Pratihar, secretary, West Bengal Potato Merchants Association. The CM wants to ensure that a sudden price rise in agricultural commodities does not become an election issue. But her wish does not seem to become reality.