The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena combine may be confident of coasting to an easy win in the Maharashtra assembly elections on the back of the abrogation of Article 370 in faraway Jammu and Kashmir. But there are still pockets where they will have to address real on-ground issues. Nashik, which has some of the country's biggest onion markets, is one of them and the farmers of the region are an angry lot these days.

Just a few weeks ago, they were looking at making some profit by selling their produce at a five-year high price of Rs 4,000 per quintal. But with an eye on the urban voters, the Centre on September 29 banned export and imposed crippling stock limits for retailers (100 quintal) and wholesalers (500 quintal). As a direct result, prices have been steadily dropping, and stood at around Rs 2,800 on Tuesday.