GOVT IS IN A PICKLE AND MINUS ONIONS
An avocado for an onion: FM vs Chidu
A political analyst described it as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s Marie Antoinette moment when she declared in Parliament, “I don't eat a lot of onions and garlic, so (I?) don't worry. I come from a family that doesn’t have much to do with onions.”
This was on Wednesday. The jury is still out on whether this declaration is testimony to the minister’s TamBrahm origins or reflects her individual preference.
All we have is video evidence that she loves making and eating other non-sulphurous, fiery stuff, like pickle. The rest of us dim bulbs cannot help but feel as if clamouring over the soaring prices of the kitchen staple (currently retailing for Rs 150-170 a kilo in major metros) is, sniff, sniff, being viewed with disapproval and it is being suggested to us, that we should ‘adjust’.
Sitharaman was responding to opposition taunts during her statement on rising onion prices. The remark drew laughter in the House, with one parliamentarian pointing out that "eating too much onion tends to make one irritable".
However, on Thursday, there was support for the FM from her colleague and Union minister Ashwini Choubey. He backed the FM and wondered how he could know about the market price of onions, since he has never tasted one.
"I am a vegetarian. I have never tasted an onion. So, how will a person like me know about the situation [market prices] of onions," Choubey said.
On being asked about Sitharaman's statement, Choubey said the finance minister gave a clear answer on what the government has been doing for the onion farmers.
Attributing shortage to low production, Sitharaman had said there were severe “structural problems” related to onions. This is puzzling. Was she alluding to the philosophical observation, ‘Life is like an onion, peel and peel and you’ll find nothing in it,’ made by the Dravidian movement founder ‘Periyar’ E V Ramaswami Naicker?
Interestingly, unseasonal rains and cold have taken a toll of the potato crop in Canada and the US. The public there is being asked to brace for the possibility of a potato shortage, price hikes and the chilling reality that there may not be enough french fries to go around; however, onion rings will be aplenty. So, why can’t the governments work it out? We’ll pass along the potatoes, can you share the onions please?
Fresh from his 106-day incarceration, former finance minister P Chidambaram, currently out on bail, retorted: "I thought the finance minister said in Parliament that she didn't eat onion and she is not bothered. What does she eat? Avocado?”
At a press conference later, Chidambaram said no sarcasm had been intended. “I was not sarcastic, I was quoting her. They should have planned in advance, what is the point of importing (onions) now, and when will they arrive? But if the finance minister says ‘I don't eat onions’, that shows the mindset of this government,” he said.
Senior Karnataka Congress leader Dinesh Gundu Rao on Thursday took a veiled jibe at the Centre over the rising prices of onion, saying that those who purchase a lot of onions will get income tax notices. “Today, the price of onion is so high that if you buy a lot of onions in bulk, you may get Income Tax Notice. Petrol prices, diesel prices, onion prices all have hit the roof,” he said, speaking to news agencies.
The government had said on Wednesday that the staterun trading firm MMTC has placed another onion import order of 4,000 tonnes from Turkey and the shipments are expected to reach by mid-January. This is in addition to 17,090 tonnes of onions already contracted, which includes 6,090 tonnes from Egypt and 11,000 tonnes from Turkey, it said in a statement.
Sitharaman's office tweeted a video of her speech "explaining in detail the steps taken by the government to control onion prices and provide relief to the common man".
"A part of this video clip is being quoted out of context and is misleading," the tweet read.