Onion Prices: Bihar’s governing alliance goes all out to make surging onion prices a key poll issue

PATNA: Rising onion prices literally bringing tears to everyone’s eyes shortly after the sky-rocketing prices of tomatoes hit common consumers hard is slowly turning into a serious political issue with the ruling Grand Alliance trying hard to make the people aware about how the Centre has failed to tame inflation.
Onion prices have hit the political fortunes of many governments in the past and their rising prices is now likely to hurt the present government at the Centre the way the opposition is trying to corner the former over the issue, analysts say.
On Wednesday, the JD(U) turned to ‘X’ to explain the horror of the surging inflation with the help of a video while stating that the inflation has turned out to be a “national disaster”. It also alleged how the Narendra Modi government’s claim to make India a $5 trillion economy has proved to be a big hoax.
“Under the NDA regime, everything has gone north—from kitchen items, education and medicines to travel but if anything, that has become cheaper is “speeches of PM Modi,” the JD(U) posted on X adding, “

Dil utna nahin roya tanhai mein…Jitna ro raha hai Modiji ki mehangai mein

(The heart didn’t cry that much in loneliness as much as we are crying over inflation under Modiji’s regime).”
The JD(U) said the much-touted issue of the $5 trillion economy as orchestrated by the BJP-led NDA government was not going to come in its words anymore. The party hoped that the Modi government was unlikely to return to power after the 2024 LS polls.
Slamming the Centre for failing to control the shooting inflation, the RJD said the PM had time to speak over the “Israel issue” but not over price rice which has caused big holes in the pockets of common men.
“The Centre has no control over the prices of common commodities. The prices of every important kitchen item such as onion, mustard oil and pulses have gone up but it’s very shocking that none bothers about providing relief to the common consumers,” state RJD spokesperson Shakti Singh Yadav said on Wednesday, adding the Modi government was fast losing the confidence of the common men.
He also hit out at the Centre over the way India has slipped from 63^rd position in 2013 during the UPA government to 111^th position in the Global Hunger Index-2023. “This amply explains how the situation of hunger and starvation has turned very serious and worrying in the past 10 years,” Yadav said. He alleged the prices of common commodities were rising due to the growing trend of hoardings by the businessmen.
Denying inflation is an issue, the BJP claimed the common men are hardly affected by it. “Inflation is a fake issue, and the common man is not affected by it. Had this been an issue, the common men would have raised it,” state BJP spokesperson Manoj Sharma said and added that the opposition was trying to make it an issue out of non-issue since it lacks any credible issue. “The fact of the matter is that the growing economy has benefited the common men, and they are happy,” he claimed.