As the BJP scripted a surprising victory in Haryana, the party’s state unit ordered a box of jalebi to be delivered to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
The screenshot of a food aggregator’s app shared by Haryana BJP showed that an order for 1 kg of the deep-fried sweet was placed from a well-known shop in Delhi’s Connaught Place to 24, Akbar Road. This is also the address of the Congress headquarters.
“On behalf of all workers of Bharatiya Janata Party Haryana, jalebi has been sent to Rahul Gandhi’s house,” the Haryana BJP shared the order on X.
How did the jalebi story begin?
The Congress link to jalebis was established on October 1. During an election rally, Haryana’s Sonipat, Gandhi mentioned about the legendary creator of Gohana's jumbo-sized jalebis – the late Matu Ram. Matu Ram’s grandson Raman Gupta told PTI that the jumbo-sized sweet was introduced in 1958 by his late grandfather. “The jalebi is made of pure desi ghee, is crispy yet soft and each one weighs around 250 gm. A box of four pieces weighing a kilo costs Rs 320. The shelf life of the sweet is more than a week.”
According to Gandhi, he had tasted "the best jalebi of my life" from Matu Ram’s shop. He also said these jalebi should be sold across India. Gandhi also said that the jalebis should also be exported.
"If their jalebis are distributed across India and the world, it may be possible that one day, 10,000-20,000-30,000 people will be able to work at their factories," Rahul Gandhi said. He also said "Matu Ramji has been caught in a multi-tiered “chakravyuh” laid out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He claimed jalebi sellers had been hurt by the Centre's GST, or Goods and Services Tax, system.
The remarks drew jibes from BJP leaders who alleged that Gandhi was “clueless” about how the sweet dish is prepared. BJP senior leader Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "I also like Gohana jalebi... but one has to understand how they are made and are sold."
However, after the Congress lost Haryana Assembly election on Tuesday, the Gujarat BJP also posted pictures of its leaders, including Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, sharing the popular sweet with each other at a “jalebi party”.
The BJP won in Gohana, where its candidate Arvind Kumar Sharma had a comfortable win over Congress candidate Jagbir Singh Malik.
In May, while addressing a poll rally for the Lok Sabha polls in Gohana, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also referred to “Matu Ram ki jalebi”
Reactions on social media
After the Haryana poll results were announced, several social media users took to X. Many pointed out that jalebis aren't made in factories but are traditionally handmade.
The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) posted on X, "This ‘jalebi’ is not ‘Factory-Made’ though!"
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Union minister JP Nadda also took a dig at the Congress, saying, "Jo Jalebi ka andaaz le kar baithe the, vo unko khane ko naseeb nahi hui…”
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