After Mega Haryana Twist, BJP Orders 1kg Jalebi For Congress Workers, Trolls Rahul Gandhi In Sweet Revenge

The BJP has 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 on Tuesday, 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.

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.

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!” 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.

What is the deal with this ‘jumbo jalebi’ 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.

Gohana, where this famous shop is located, is in Haryana’s Sonipat district. 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.”