If you are thinking about whom to blame for the rising prices of pulses, you could vent it out on the Bihar elections. Union agriculture minister Radha Mohan Singh and consumer affairs minister Ram Vilas Paswan, responsible for the production of pulses and controlling their prices, are busy with poll campaigning, with the issue, which needs urgent attention, getting sidelined. Both ministers are from Bihar.

Sources in the trading industry told dna that the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) had warned the Centre in June itself that there would be scanty rainfall and hence shortage of pulses. "However, both ministers ignored the warning... But now, prices are soaring. The common man is being forced to buy pulses for over Rs200 a kg and there is no respite in sight as the government has no clue how to tackle this," a trader said.

He further explained that recently the Centre had floated a tender to import 5 lakh metric tons of pulses against the shortfall of 60 lakh metric tons. India's annual demand of pulses is 220 lakh metric tons. "If the government would have taken care in June itself, the situation today would have been different. But it's not at all concerned about the consumers, it's only worried about the Bihar election. It is very unfortunate and sad," NCP spokesperson Nawab Malik said.

"Whenever we decide to buy something in the global market, just with that news, the price of that product shoots up, and whenever we decide to sell, the price goes down. So, policy and import and export decisions have to be taken with proper care and foresight. The current crisis shows that this government is inept at handling such crucial issues. Due to its mismanagement, people are suffering."

Kanjiram Dalal, secretary of the 110-year-old Grant Merchant Association, said this year there is no supply in market. "We have nil stock of pulses this year against the usual 1 lakh metric tons. The price of any product depends on demand and supply. Currently, we are receiving hardly 2-3 trucksloads of pulses at Vashi market; last year, it was 400-450 truckloads. How can the market be run then and people's demand met?" he questioned.

"Some of the traders have started importing pulses from Canada, Africa and Burma, but it will take time to get that finished product in market. We don't get clean pulses in the global market, they need to be polished before being sold. This entire process takes two-three months."

Industry experts said the Centre's decision of importing 18,000 tons of pulses won't have any immediate positive impact on the current soaring prices. "The tender has just been floated. Traders will participate in tendering, bringing pulses on ships, and then the cleaning process will consume at least two-three more months. The government is not at all prepared to handle this crisis. Besides, 18,000 tons is one-day requirement of Maharashtra alone, what about other days and other states?" asked an expert.

The Maharashtra government has failed to act against hoarders. The Centre had issued a notification under the Essential Commodities Act and asked state governments to take action against the hoarders and limit the stock by issuing notifications. However, the Maharashtra government has not yet notified the stock limit. It has allegedly been contributing in pushing prices up across the country, considering that it's the biggest producer of kharif pulses.