So far, the dollar drought has not provoked serious shortages of staple goods, though it may yet do so.

ECONOMIST: The cost of political incompetence

The rapid growth of Tesco and other supermarkets into clothes and household appliances - staple mail order goods - has squeezed smaller retailers.

BBC: NEWS | Business | Mail order looks beyond the printed page

Moreover, the issues that led to the BJP's humiliating performance have a national appeal: The party was punished for misgovernance in economic and social policies, particularly its failure to control the sharp increase in the prices of onions, a staple vegetable in India that affected the cost of many other goods.

CNN: HOW THE BJP WAS ROUTED

Other factories producing staple foods are being inspected, and ordered to concentrate on making price-controlled goods.

ECONOMIST: Statism on the march