TOI News Desk
NEW DELHI: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday continued to take a dig at Congress party as they celebrated the unanimous election of chief minister Nayab Singh Saini as legislature party leader in Haryana with ‘jalebi‘.
What began as a sweet treat for Congress soon became a metaphor for the unexpected twists of Haryana’s political race, with the BJP now firmly holding the jalebi on their plate.
The celebration was seen as an act to mock Congress for their premature celebrations on the day of counting of votes in Haryana assembly elections. Haryana Congress had posted a confident message on X, writing, “Ram-Ram Haryana. Happy Jalebi Day,” as initial trends showed them leading. However, by noon, the sweetness of their victory began to fade as the BJP surged ahead.
Even for BJP, jalebi had been a recurring theme throughout the campaign. The political conversation around jalebis started when Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, at an election rally in Gohana, showcased a box of famous ‘Matu Ram halwai’s’ jalebi and praised them as “the best jalebi of his life.” He even suggested that the iconic sweet should be sold nationwide and exported to generate employment opportunities.
But the BJP turned the tables in more ways than one. As the poll results became clear, BJP leaders cheekily referred back to Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda’s earlier dig at Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, saying, “Dipender bhai, the jalebi box did not arrive.”
In a playful retort, the BJP posted on X that they had sent a box of jalebi to Rahul Gandhi on behalf of all BJP workers in Haryana, further cementing the role of the sweet in this political contest.
When Nayab Singh Saini was formally elected as the leader of the BJP Legislature Party in Haryana, BJP found the celebration with jalebi sarcastically fitting.
The BJP is set to form its third successive government in Haryana after winning 48 seats in the 90-member assembly, while the Congress secured 37 seats.