As the BJP scripted a spectacular and surprising victory in Haryana, in a swipe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the party’s state unit said it has ordered a box of 'jalebi' to be delivered to his house
The BJP on Tuesday made its mission to ensure that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi gets a taste of jalebi, which is now being gleefully distributed across party offices, as his remarks about a local sweet shop during the Gohana rally became viral fodder.
As the BJP scripted a spectacular and surprising victory in Haryana, in a swipe at Gandhi, the party’s state unit said it has ordered a box of jalebi to be delivered to his house. A snapshot of a food aggregator’s app 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.
“On behalf of all workers Bharatiya Janata Party Haryana, jalebi has been sent to Rahul Gandhi’s house,” the Haryana BJP shared the order on X.
भारतीय जनता पार्टी हरियाणा के समस्त कार्यकर्ताओं की तरफ से राहुल गांधी जी के लिए उनके घर पर जलेबी भिजवा दी है pic.twitter.com/Xi8SaM7yBj— Haryana BJP (@BJP4Haryana) October 8, 2024
It all started after Gandhi, giving a speech in Gohana while campaigning for the assembly elections, praised a local sweet shop – the legendary Matu Ram halwai – for its jalebi and said this should be sold across India and even exported. He said if produced in bulk in a “factory”, it could generate more employment opportunities.
Vintage Rahul Gandhi is backRahul Gandhi came up with a new business idea and employment model-"Jalebi ki factory"
Jalebi is eaten fresh from nearby sweet shops but Rahul Gandhi says Jalebi sud be produced in the factory and it can give employment to 50,000 people in every… pic.twitter.com/DnDwK17F6d
— STAR Boy TARUN (@Starboy2079) October 2, 2024
But, this part of his speech soon became a source of derisive jokes and memes on the internet with many saying jalebi is meant to be eaten fresh and not made in a factory to be sold in bulk.
On Tuesday, however, the jalebi dig was not limited to the Haryana BJP; 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”.
Rahul Gandhi is helping us achieve our dream of making India Congress-free. So, it's our duty to fulfill his dream by making jalebi the most popular sweet today.
Jalebi Party at Party office!#HaryanaElectionResult#Haryanapic.twitter.com/1sr5P9RhGL
— Zubin Ashara (@zubinashara) October 8, 2024
“Rahul Gandhi is helping us achieve our dream of making India Congress-free. So, it’s our duty to fulfill his dream by making jalebi the most popular sweet today. Jalebi Party at Party office!” said state media co-adviser Zubin Ashara on social media.
When early election trends projected a resounding comeback for the BJP in Haryana, it ordered at least 100 kg of jalebi to celebrate its record third term in the northern state. National party president JP Nadda also relished the moment, saying: “Yeh jo jalebi ka khwaab leke baithe the unko jalebi bhi naseeb nahin hui (Those who were dreaming of jalebi did not even get to savour it),” he said.
Controversial former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma also posted a picture of herself sharing jalebi with party leaders. “Today’s jalebi was a little too delicious,” she said on social media in Hindi.
आज की #Jalebi कुछ ज़्यादा स्वादिष्ट थी। #जलेबी#HaryanaElectionResulthttps://t.co/w84a3JhUu0— Nupur Sharma (@NupurSharmaBJP) October 8, 2024
What is the ‘jalebi’ deal after all?
Gohana’s jumbo-sized jalebis and Haryana polls have a “sweet” connection, after all. Both Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned its legendary creator Matu Ram in their speeches for their respective poll campaigns. The sweets are also popular among politicians hot on the campaign trail, who stop by for a bite while parties across the spectrum also place bulk orders.
Matu Ram’s grandson Raman Gupta told PTI that the jumbo-sized sweet was introduced in 1958 by his late grandfather. “Me and my brother Neeraj run the shop now,” he said. “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.”
In his rally in Gohana, Gandhi showed a box of the famous shop and said he tasted the jumbo jalebi in the car and sent a message to his sister and party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra that “today I have eaten the best jalebi of my life”.
“I am bringing a box of jalebi for you too,” he said. “Then I told (Congress leaders) Deepender and Bajrang Punia ji that this jalebi should go to the whole world.”
In May, while addressing a poll rally for the Lok Sabha polls in Gohana, Modi had referred to “Matu Ram ki jalebi” to target the opposition. Attacking the opposition INDIA bloc, he had then said they have a formula of having 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 said.
Giving further details, co-owner Raman Gupta said Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini and Congress leader Deepender Hooda also made brief halts at the shop while campaigning.
Who won Gohana, the home of the jumbo ‘jalebi’?
The BJP registered a strong performance in Gohana, where its candidate Arvind Kumar Sharma had a comfortable win over Congress candidate Jagbir Singh Malik. Sharma polled a total of 57,055 and defeated his opponent by a margin of 10,429 votes. A total of 11 candidates were in the fray.
Gohana is in Haryana’s Sonipat district, which went to the Congress in the recently held Lok Sabha elections. The district has six assembly segments — Ganaur, Rai, Kharkauda, Sonipat, Gohana and Baroda. As a Lok Sabha constituency, it has a total of nine assembly segments including Julana, Safidon and Jind in the Jind district.
The BJP won four out of the six assemblies (Rai, Kharkauda, Sonipat and Gohana) in the district, while one — Baroda — went to the Congress and the other, Ganaur, went to a BJP rebel. In the remaining three assemblies under the Lok Sabha constituency, Julana was won by Olympian wrestler Vinesh Phogat and the other two (Safidon and Jind) went to the BJP.
