The Prime Minister's eloquence, however, is of little help to Delhiites who are queuing up in hundreds outside government fair-price shops for a mere kg of onion. The Chief Minister of Delhi, unfortunately, is not blessed with the Prime Minister's sensitive style of expression. ``Oh, the people don't mind standing outside the Super Bazar,'' he says. ``They go there to buy subsidised onion. If somebody has a problem standing in a queue, he or she can always buy from the open market or the local grocer''.

``In any case, poor people do not eat onions. People need to ration their intake of onions or give up onions for the time-being. It is not an essential food item,'' the chief minister said, dismissing the crisis as a problem of middle-class.

In a week's time, Sahib Singh assures, Delhi will be getting its quota of 100 metric tonne of onions from the Central government, which is importing it from the neighbouring countries to meet the shortfall.

The chief minister appears to have other pressing matters on his mind. He is organising the week-long Moscow festival in Delhi punctuated by doling out a string of sops to voters.

Meanwhile, Delhi Food and Civil Supplies Minister Poornima Sethi has announced that the onion shortage would be over in three days.

The Delhi government has asked the Centre for a daily supply of 100 metric tonne that along with the 50 metric tonne being supplied through NAFED, will meet the Capital's daily demand, Sethi said at a press conference today.

The additional supply would be made available to outlets under the control of the Delhi government, besides in mobile vans and Super Bazars.

The onions would be priced at Rs 10. Sethi said that the outlets would not sell more than a kilo to a consumer at a time so that there is enough for all.

The ministry, she said, would also double the number of mobile vans in operation now so that there would be a total of 140 vans. She also claimed that the NAFED announcement to import onions had an immediate effect on prices as the wholesale procurement rate fell by Rs 6 on Sunday.

But the ground reality is contrary to the Delhi government's statements. The price is fluctuating between Rs 35 and Rs 40 a kg in the open market and there is an acute shortfall in the Super Bazars.

The whole of Delhi might be short of onions, but the Old Secretariat gets its regular quota without much difficulty. The fair price mobile van parked at the Secretariat is still selling onions at Rs 10 a kg and the babus are allowed to buy two kg of onions, per person -- a kg more than what the rest of Delhi can hope for.