Indian government accused of onion conspiracy

INDIA'S main opposition party yesterday blamed the government and traders for a severe onion shortage.
By The Newsroom
Published 24th Oct 2005, 01:00 BST

Harsh Vardhan, of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accused vendors of limiting sales to profit from the forthcoming Hindu festivals of Dussehra and Deepawali: the onion is a key ingredient in almost everything eaten during both.

"An artificial scarcity of onion has been created by traders in connivance with the governing Congress party government," Mr Vardhan said.

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He dismissed government claims that the shortage was caused by floods in onion-growing areas in August.

Onion shortages were responsible for bringing down BJP governments in New Delhi and Rajasthan states in 1998 when a similar lack of supply was the key election issue.

In several parts of India, onions were trading yesterday at 30 rupees (40p) a kilogram, double last week's price.