People in our country eat their way through 15 million tonnes of onions a year.
Almost every dish uses it, whether cooked in a curry or eaten raw as an accompaniment to a meal.
People taste the Mirchi Bajji stuffed with Onion. Some eat Onions as regular salads with the food. It is very good for the health.
Like Tomatoes every household needs onion. All the food joints give it along with the food they serve.
Now due to the rise in the cost of the Onions, some hotels have stopped serving the raw cut onions.
A month ago, one kilogram of onions would have cost about 20 rupees and now it ranges from Rs 60 to Rs 80..Poor and middle-class people are already in tears with the rise in the rates of Onions per kilo.
Since then, the price has gone up nearly five-fold, costing up to 80 rupees and stinging everyone in India.
At roadside eateries, many have stopped serving the traditional meal accompaniment of sliced onions.
At the local vegetable market in South Delhi, bags of onions are being guarded by worried shopkeepers.
Onion prices have been known to swing elections before, the then-ruling BJP suffered heavy losses in Delhi state elections, a result widely blamed on high onion prices.
The worried Delhi state government has started special counters across the city, to sell subsidised onions. But security guards have been deployed here too, to control angry crowds.
While elections have been known to turn on the cost of the onion, it is the pockets of poorer people who are hit the hardest.
But with 5 states going to the polls and general elections due next year, onion prices could sting politicians as well. If the situation continues then the Onion might go up to Rs 100 per kilo.
