BJP's 'jalebi' swipe at Rahul Gandhi after Haryana poll win
The Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Haryana unit celebrated its historic third consecutive Assembly election win on Tuesday by sending a kilogram of jalebis to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi at his Delhi office. The party said, "On behalf of all the workers of Bhartiya Janta Party (in) Haryana, jalebis have been sent to Rahul Gandhi's home." The delivery was confirmed by a screenshot from a food delivery app showing an order from a Delhi-based sweets shop to Gandhi.
Why jalebis?
The selection of jalebis was a thinly-veiled dig at Gandhi's campaign speech in Haryana's Gohana, where he emphasized the possibility of local jalebi production for national distribution and export as a way to generate employment and revenue. He had also alleged that these businesses had suffered due to the central government's Goods and Services Tax (GST) system. This drew flak from BJP leaders who called him "clueless" about how the sweet dish is made.
Read BJP's post here
BJP's response to Gandhi's jalebi remarks
Former Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad hit back at Gandhi's remarks saying, "I also like Gohana jalebi... but one has to understand how they are made and are sold." He also accused Gandhi of not doing his homework properly. Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also spoken about Gohana jalebis in a speech ahead of the general election, using them as a metaphor for the opposition INDIA bloc's alleged plan to rotate the Prime Minister's post annually if they won.
What are Gohana jalebis
The Gohana jalebis, which were first prepared in 1958 by a local businessman Matu Ram, have become a flashpoint of political discourse in Haryana. Today, his grandsons run the business. "The jalebi is made of pure desi ghee... it is crispy yet soft... and each one weighs around 250gm. A box of four, weighing about one kilogram, costs ₹320," Raman Gupta, one of the grandsons told news agency PTI.
