New Delhi, Aug 19 (IANS): With the arrival of over 3,000 tonnes of onions in the national capital Monday, prices will drop to Rs.35-40 per kg from Tuesday, Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said.

"The daily consumption of onions in Delhi is around a thousand tonnes, and today we have received 3,200 tonnes. So the prices at all our outlets will fall to Rs.35-40 per kg from tomorrow (Tuesday)," Dikshit told reporters here.

The Delhi government, in association with other agencies like National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India, had Friday opened 1,000 outlets across the capital selling onions at nominal rates. Of the total, Delhi government operates 600 outlets.

Prices of onions at these outlets Monday was Rs.40-45 per kg. Onions have now arrived in the capital from other states like Rajasthan and Maharashtra.

Dikshit said her aim was to bring down the prices to Rs.25-30 and expressed confidence that the government would "achieve it soon".

The chief minister criticised opposition political parties like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and accused them of indulging in "political gimmickry" with "no intent of helping people".

"A lot of misguidance is being done by some political parties who have no intent to help the people and are indulging in gimmickry. We are not politicising the issue and are instead trying to solve the problem," said Dikshit.

Taking a dig at BJP, which was voted out of power in Delhi in 1998 following spiralling onion prices, Dikshit said the party lost because unlike her government, they did not go out in the markets and on the streets to help people.