New Delhi:

Jalebis for Rahul Gandhi. Jalebis for the Congress.

The BJP’s Haryana unit celebrated a thrilling comeback Tuesday to win a historic third consecutive Assembly election by sending a kilogram of the fried sweet dish to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi at his Delhi office. The gesture, though, hardly one of courtesy to a beaten rival.

It was, instead, a jubilant swipe over his comment about jalebis from Haryana’s Gohana.

“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. Attached was a screenshot from a food delivery app confirming an order from a Delhi-based sweets and chaat shop to Mr Gandhi.

The delivery address shown was 24, Akbar Road in Delhi – the Congress’ HQ.

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

Why jalebis?

While campaigning Mr Gandhi spoke about jalebis from the area being mass manufactured and sold across the country, as well as being exported, to generate employment and revenue.

READ | Rahul Gandhi, BJP, And The Jalebi Factor In The Haryana Election

He claimed jalebi sellers had been hurt by the centre’s GST, or Goods and Services Tax, system.

The remarks drew (predictably so) jibes from BJP leaders who declared Mr Gandhi ‘clueless’ about how the sweet dish is prepared. Ex Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, “I also like Gohana jalebi… but one has to understand how they are made and are sold.”

The BJP veteran declared Mr Gandhi “does not do his homework properly”.

But it isn’t just Mr Gandhi who has used the jalebis in a campaign speech this year; Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speaking before the April-June general election, did so too.

Mr Modi used the jalebi to make what seemed to be unsubstantiated claim – that the opposition INDIA bloc’s plan to rotate the Prime Minister’s post every year in the event they won.

“Ask them – is Prime Minister’s post our Matu Ram ki jalebi?” he asked.

Gohana jalebis were first made in 1958, when a local businessman called Matu Ram began selling it. Today his business is run by his grandsons. “The jalebi is made of pure desi ghee… it is crispy yet soft… and each one weighs around 250 gram. A box of four, weighing about one kilogram, costs Rs 320,” Raman Gupta, one of the grandsons, told PTI.

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