Priyanka Gandhi flags ‘fertilizer shortage’

New Delhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday claimed that there is a “crisis of fertilizers” in the country and wondered how the BJP government has not been able to estimate in 10 years how much fertilizer is needed in the country.

The Congress general secretary said that be it the price of crops or the availability of fertilizers and seeds, the BJP, which makes big claims, has itself become a crisis for the farmers.

“This is the peak season for sowing of Rabi crops and as usual, there is a crisis of fertilizers in the entire country. Long queues are being seen for fertilizers in many states including Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,” Priyanka Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.

Farmers are wandering here and there leaving their work in the fields and protesting at various places, she said.

“Due to the crisis of fertilizers in every season under the BJP rule, this problem of the farmers has now become common. Has the BJP government not been able to estimate in 10 years how much fertilizer is needed in the country,” she asked.

Congress leaders have earlier also flagged the issue of a “fertilizer shortage”, claiming that farmers in states such as Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh have to stand in queues early morning and at night to get fertilizers.

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini has said there was no shortage of DAP fertiliser in the state and asserted that farmers should not engage in panic buying.