Local Gohana jalebi popular in Haryana, not factory-made: CM's veiled dig at Rahul Gandhi

Chandigarh: Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Friday took a veiled dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and said the local jalebi of Gohana's Matu Ram Halwai is popular in the state and not the one made in factory.

The Haryana elections may be over and the BJP may have won the polls but the spotlight continues on famous Matu Ram Halwai's jumbo-sized jalebis as saffron outfit leaders have been using the sweet to take potshots at the Congress.

"In Haryana, the local jalebi of Matu Ram of Gohana is popular, not the factory made jalebi," Saini posted on X in Hindi after halting at the famous jalebi shop in Gohana near Sonipat.

Visiting the sweet shop on the sidelines of an event in Gohana, Saini also tried his hand in making jalebi there. Accompanied by Haryana Minister Arvind Kumar Sharma, who is also an MLA from Gohana, and state BJP chief Mohan Lal Badoli, the three leaders relished the jalebis.

Addressing an election rally in Gohana nearly a month ago, Gandhi had held a box of famous jalebi-maker Matu Ram Halwai in his hand and showed it to the gathering.

Gandhi had said he tasted the famous Matu Ram Halwai's 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 in my life".

"I am bringing a box of jalebi for you too," Gandhi had then said.

The Congress leader had emphasised that this famous jalebi should be available all over India and exported to other countries which will generate more employment opportunities.

He had said supposing 100 people work in Matu Ram's shop today, if this jalebi goes all over the world, then 10,000 to 50,000 more people can work in his factory one day.

Gandhi had, however, claimed that sweet shop owners like Matu Ram Halwai were negatively impacted by the policies of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and were trapped due to demonetisation and then "wrong" GST.

Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad, while campaigning in Haryana last month, had taken a dig at Rahul Gandhi over the jalebi remark.

Prasad had said, "I also like Gohana's jalebi. Now Rahul Gandhi is talking of setting up factory in the US.

"But how jalebi is made and how it is sold, one has to understand this... He is talking about sending Gohana jalebi to the US, but it is important to know how the jalebi is made," Prasad had said.

Meanwhile, late Matu Ram Halwai's grandson Neeraj Gupta, who along with his brother is currently running the shop in Gohana, told PTI that Saini visited their shop around 2.30 pm along with minister Sharma and Badoli.

"They were at our shop for nearly 30 minutes. During this they relished the jalebis and had tea," Gupta said.

In the Haryana polls, the ruling BJP scored a hat-trick by riding to power for the third consecutive term.

Matu Ram Halwai's shop in Gohana near Sonipat is famous for its jumbo-sized jalebis.

Notably, after BJP's win in the polls on October 8, party workers celebrated in Haryana it by distributing jalebis along with laddus.