The curious case of election years and tendu auctions in Chhattisgarh

A decline of Rs 4.6 billion in revenue from tendu-leaf auctions this year triggers allegations of cartelisation in the lucrative trade

It’s a unique cycle, and it occurs every five years. The sale price of tendu leaves — a lucrative forest produce used for making bidis — peaks in Chhattisgarh after every four years of Assembly elections. Then, in the election year, it falls dramatically. This brings down the income of more than one million tribal families and other forest dwellers in the state, who otherwise might be hoping to earn benefits from the incumbent governments’ populist measures in election years.

The tendu leaf trade fuels the Rs 70-billion bidi industry, which employs about eight million people in India and has