As onion prices bring tears to consumers' eyes, Twitter finds relief in memes; Opposition criticises government's failure in tackling crisis

The prices of onions have seen a rise crossing the Rs 100 per kilogram mark in many cities, including Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai and Pune, inviting harsh criticism from Opposition parties like Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which are blaming the Centre for not taking appropriate steps to tackle the crisis and ease the inflation. The spike in rates also found a mention in Lok Sabha proceedings and led to protests by MLAs in the Assam Assembly, where lawmakers wore garlands of onions around their necks. A kilo of onion is currently selling at Rs 90 to Rs 100 in most Indian states, according to an India Today report. While some citizens are blaming the government, others are seen addressing the issue the soaring prices by taking to Twitter with memes and jokes with the hashtag #Onionprice. Here is how Twitter reacted:

Keep the bag of onion locked because the price high in Assam.per kg 80 rupees. pic.twitter.com/Qwdq5irLim

— rupnath sarma (@Rupnaths) November 28, 2019

Onion price beats the Apple price
Earlier was getting tears while cutting it, now when I think of buying it I get tears pic.twitter.com/md2HnCL6ws

— Jagadeesh K Shettar (@jrkshettar) November 30, 2019

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Families in India managing with price hike of Onions while onions get rotten in other states in our country😀😀😀😀 pic.twitter.com/QZcV0jwP1O

— louie (@alister1967) November 28, 2019

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Never had such good Chicken mo:mo in street. The stuffing was entirely of chicken not a single onion stuffed in it 😅😅
Best part of onion price hiked

— Monika Subedi (@subedi_monika) November 27, 2019

Looking at Onion Price: pic.twitter.com/z9QhdbEPrW

— 🇮🇳 رومانا (@RomanaRaza) November 29, 2019

Like the Opposition, a section of Twitter also blamed the government for the surge in prices. While some questioned the government, President of Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee Subhash Chopra called out the Centre for “being in collusion with hoarders and black-marketers”.

Both the Modi Government at the Centre and the Kejriwal Government in Delhi are responsible for the soaring prices of onion and vegetables—both these Governments are in collusion with hoarders and black-marketers#OnionPrice

— Subhash Chopra (@SChopraINC) November 28, 2019

@nstomaroffice what should we eat? I am a resident of Bangalore All vegetables and groceries are at peaks, #OnionPrice is now at Rs140 in Bangalore, how poor and middle class people afford this? Similarly other vegetables and groceries. What govt is doing?

— Sanatan Dayananda (@Veer1891) December 1, 2019

Onion price is going strong after hitting a ton & shows no signs of getting out.

Price of onion is bringing tears in eyes of people across country as retail inflation is on rise.@BJP4India is not taking any measures to arrest this price rise which has hit common man very hard.

— Karnataka Congress (@INCKarnataka) November 27, 2019

Prices have risen sharply since May this year, caused by delayed arrival of the new crop and damage to the harvested crop in the main onion-growing states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, Indian Express reported. Expressing concern over the price rise, Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan had told PTI the situation is being closely monitored by a team of five Union ministers chaired by Home Minister Amit Shah. Finance minister, agriculture minister and road transport minister are also members of the group of ministers. The group of ministers has already held one meeting and another one will be held soon, he said Earlier in November, when he was asked about when the prices will reduce, Paswan said , “I am not an astrologer but it should hopefully come down by end of November or beginning December.”