‘Don’t know why MP said it… poor are not buying onions at all’

Accusing the Opposition of playing politics over onions, Virendra Singh, the BJP MP from Ballia in Uttar Pradesh, claimed in Parliament that onions were being sold in his constituency at Rs 20-25 a kg , and that he could provide them truckloads of it. Shameem, who has been selling onions in Ballia for 20 years, says he is selling them at around Rs 90-100 now

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‘Even rich are only taking 250 gm’

The Indian Express speaks to Shameem, 52, an onion seller in Ballia

What is the price of onions today?

I bought onions at Rs 85 per kg from the mandi. I am selling them at Rs 90 per kg to my customers.

The Ballia MP has claimed that onions are being sold at Rs 25 per kg here….

Not that I know of. Par unhone bola hai toh kuch soch samajh ke bola hoga (But if the MP has said it, he must have said it after giving it some thought).

Why are onions so expensive now?

Most of the onions are produced in Nashik and because of the floods there, the produce has got spoilt. The supply has stopped and so the prices have increased. I don’t think the government can do anything about it. It is not like they can produce onions using a machine.

Are people buying less?

Very less. Earlier, I used to sell at least five sacks of onions weighing 50-55 kg a day. Now, I barely manage to sell a sack a day.

Do you think people are not eating onions because of the high price?

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Yes, the poor can’t afford it, so they are not eating onions at all. How can a daily wager who makes Rs 200 per day buy onions at Rs 100 per kg? Even the rich are only buying 250 gm at a time. Today, a bank manager came and bought only 250 gm onion from me. He used to buy at least a kilogram earlier. He said that his family is avoiding dishes that require onions.

Asad Rehman

Asad Rehman is with the national bureau of The Indian Express and covers politics and policy focusing on religious minorities in India. A journalist for over eight years, Rehman moved to this role after covering Uttar Pradesh for five years for The Indian Express. During his time in Uttar Pradesh, he covered politics, crime, health, and human rights among other issues. He did extensive ground reports and covered the protests against the new citizenship law during which many were killed in the state. During the Covid pandemic, he did extensive ground reporting on the migration of workers from the metropolitan cities to villages in Uttar Pradesh. He has also covered some landmark litigations, including the Babri Masjid-Ram temple case and the ongoing Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple dispute. Prior to that, he worked on The Indian Express national desk for three years where he was a copy editor. Rehman studied at La Martiniere, Lucknow and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in History from Ramjas College, Delhi University. He also has a Masters degree from the AJK Mass Communication Research Centre, Jamia Millia Islamia. ... Read More

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