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Buy own chaat at Maken’s Chaat Pe Charcha

NewsBuy own chaat at Maken’s Chaat Pe Charcha

Members of the general publlc and especially Delhi’s chaat lovers who attended the “Chaat pe Charcha” — a meet-and-greet programme for Delhiites with Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken to air their grievances — organised last week, found the chaat missing from the event.

As part of its campaign titled “Dilii ki Baat, Dill ke Saath” in the run-up to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) elections on 23 April, the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) had organised the event, but chose to “play it safe” by keeping the chaat off the “Chaat pe Charcha”, and not without reason. Maken is treading cautiously in Delhi after the “khat pe charcha” fiasco last year ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, during which farmers took away “khats” (cots) with them from a venue in Deoria district in Uttar Pradesh no sooner than Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had ended addressing briefly a “Khat Sabha” (charpoy meeting). While the “khats” were meant as a popular symbol to signify Rahul Gandhi’s efforts to connect with the people, last year’s fiasco meant that Maken is not going to take risks by actually having chaat, a popular food among Delhiites, in the “Chaat pe Charcha”, limiting it to only “charcha”. However, the event would be held at locations known for “chaat” delicacies.

Another Congress attempt to cash in on “popular symbols” was seen earlier this year during election campaigning in Punjab where Captain Amarinder Singh had organised “Lassi pe charcha” to connect with the people. Other similar campaigns organised by the Congress in Punjab were “Coffee with Captain”, an attempt to connect with the elite electorate of Punjab.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, too, had organsied “Litti pe Charcha”, named after a popular dish in Bihar, to involve the segment of laboUrers hailing from Bihar and working in Punjab’s farms.

Explaining the purpose of the “Chaat pe Charcha” programme, a DPCC worker said, “Some people might have got the impression that chaat will be distributed among people during the interaction. But the idea behind ‘chaat pe charcha’ was to engage people through a public meeting at a location that is popular among locals. We chose Bharat Nagar’s ‘naale ki chaat’, a popular chaat kiosk in Delhi, where a lot of people flock to taste its delicacies. It was not about organising a ‘chaat party’, but to welcome people to interact with the DPCC president in an informal setting.”

However, among the attendees, Congress workers were in a majority compared to members of the general public. Around 150-200 people had gathered to attend the “Chaat pe Charcha”. A significant number of them were ticket-aspirants who were hoping to get nominated on Congress seats in the MCD elections. 

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