Spiralling onion rates may have given some ammo to the Opposition in this ongoing Assembly election, but the kitchen staple looks likely to stay on its three-digit price perch long after poll results are out.

The onion retailed for at least Rs 120 per kilo in the three principal cities of Jharkhand — Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad — on Tuesday. And market sources say prices are unlikely to come down in the next month or so as imports from Turkey and Afghanistan have not made any difference.

Explaining why, Ranganath, a large wholesaler of onions at Sakchi market in Jamshedpur, said onions imported from Turkey and Afghanistan had reached steel city markets last week but failed to bring down the price.

“The imported onions brought to the city from Ranchi and Delhi were not upto the mark quality-wise, and there were complaints of damage,” he said.

With supplies dwindling, onion in retail outlets of Jamshedpur were selling for anywhere between Rs 120 and Rs 130 per kilo on Tuesday. The same price had prevailed in the last two weeks, with wholesalers selling the bulb at Rs 100 per kilo.

In Ranchi and Dhanbad too onions were sold at Rs 120 per kilo in retail markets on Tuesday. The wholesale rate in Ranchi was Rs 100 per kilo, in Dhanbad Rs 110. “You can find onions at certain supermarkets in Ranchi for Rs 105 per kilo but their quality is not good and you have to rummage through a lot of onions to find a few good enough to buy,” a Ranchi customer said.

Normally, Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad depend on Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka for onions. “Farmers and dealers from these states have told us that it may not be possible for them to bring down the rates until the last week of January. By then, we can expect new and better yield,” said Mahesh Kumar, a wholesale dealer of onions at Harmu market in Ranchi. Agreed Sanjay Mahato, an onion dealer at Hirapur in Dhanbad: “The failure of onion crops in October has resulted in this unprecedented price rise. We’re expecting the January crop to be a success.”

“The kharif crop in Maharashtra was badly hit by the unseasonal rain late in October,” said Satya Narayan Agarwal , a senior functionary of Krishi Utpadan Bazar Samiti in Jamshedpur.

Onion traders across the board said the prices were likely to fluctuate between Rs 120 and Rs 130 this week. “In fact, prices may not come down till January-end when the new stock of late kharif crops, locally referred to as rangda, will arrive,” said the Ranchi wholesaler.

On Tuesday, the vegetable market at Sakchi, Jamshedpur, saw the arrival of two truckloads of onions, each carrying 25 tonnes. Not all were of good quality. “Many onions are damaged and many have a shelf-life of less than five days,” said a wholesale dealer. “We’ll sell onions with a brief shelf-life for Rs 100 a kilo.”

Homes, dhabas, hotels and restaurants have cut down onion use or cost or both. A pakoda seller in Bistupur, Jamshedpur, said he was frying cauliflowers. Prashant Kumar, a restaurant owner at Ashok Nagar in Ranchi, said he scouts markets every day for onions at wholesale prices.