As the voters of Haryana gave a booster shot to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by bringing it back to power for the third consecutive term, the party workers celebrated the thrilling comeback by sending a kilogram of ‘jalebi’ (a fried sweet dish) to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi at his Delhi office.
The ‘sweet’ gesture, though, was not one of courtesy to a beaten rival as Congress lost to BJP in the Assembly elections. Instead, it was a hilarious swipe over his comment about jalebis from Gohana in Haryana.
It was Rahul Gandhi who brought jalebi to Haryana politics. The BJP supporters latched on to the coiled sweet to give it back to Rahul Gandhi.
“On behalf of all the workers of Bhartiya Janta Party (in) Haryana, jalebis have been sent to Rahul Gandhi’s home,” the party said on X. The party also attached a screenshot from a food delivery app confirming an order to Rahul Gandhi’s address.
But, why jalebis? Well, during the campaign trail, Haryana Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda gifted Rahul Gandhi Matu Ram Halwai’s, a popular shop in Gohana, jalebi. It turned out to be “the best jalebi” the Gandhi family scion had eaten in the 54 years of his life. Rahul did not stop there. He said that everyone should be able to have these jalebis. For that, jalebis needed to be “produced in a factory”, at an industrial scale. Then, jalebis became a political affair.
Gohana jalebis were first made in 1958, when a local businessman called Matu Ram began selling it. His grandsons Raman Gupta and Neeraj Gupta run the business today, a PTI report stated.
‘Best Jalebi of my life’
Addressing an election rally in Haryana’s Gohana earlier, the Congress MP had said, “I tasted jalebi in the car and sent a message to my sister Priyanka that today I have eaten the best jalebi of my life. I am bringing a box of jalebi for you too.”
Holding a box of jalebis from Matu Ram Halwai, Gandhi reportedly said that he had discussed with the state Congress leaders that jalebis of Gohana should be available across India and even the world and should be made in factories.
“If this jalebi goes to the country and abroad, then perhaps their shop will turn into a factory and thousands of people will get employment,” he was quoted as saying by India Today. In a post on X on October 4, Gandhi also referred to his statements about the opportunity to sell Gohana’s jalebis “more widely”.
“India has 5,500 clusters of similar small producers who can market their products to the world if given the right support. They need policies to provide them with finance, technology, networks, branding and better organisation,” he wrote on X.
“With this support, the world can enjoy not only our mithai but apples from Sopore, jeans from Ballari, Kolhapuri chappals, pineapples from Meghalaya, makhana from Bihar, brassware from Moradabad and many more. The global success of Banarsi saris is a great example of what is possible,” he added.
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BJP mocks Gandhi scion
The BJP grabbed the opportunity to troll Gandhi over his remarks. It was quick to correct the Congress scion that the sweet was not made in factories.
“I also like Gohana’s jalebi. Now, Rahul Gandhi is talking about setting up a factory in the US. But one has to understand how jalebis are made and how they are sold. It would have been better if those who wrote the chit for him had framed it properly,” senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
He also said Gandhi “does not do his homework properly”.
Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also mentioned the famed Gohana jalebi, much before Rahul Gandhi did. Addressing an election rally ahead of the Lok Sabha polls earlier this year, he claimed the INDIA bloc had a formula to have five Prime Ministers in five years if they come to power.
“Ask them is the prime minister’s post our Matu Ram ki jalebi?” he had asked, as per an NDTV report.
BJP supporters now grabbed the opportunity to use jalebis to take a dig at Rahul Gandhi, who had praised the jalebi from a local shop, suggesting it should be exported globally.
Many leaders and party workers also shared pictures of themselves enjoying the sweet treat in a veiled jibe at the Congress and Rahul Gandhi.
BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonwalla also shared a video of him posing with jalebis and one user shared Jason Derulo’s hit song “Jalebi Baby”.
(With inputs from PTI)