Rahul Gandhi Stops For Chai, Pakoda Break During Karnataka Poll Campaign

During his ongoing 'Jana Aashirwada Yatre', Rahul Gandhi stopped for a tea break at local dhaba at Kalmala village, Raichur. What attracted everyone's attention was hot pakodas served along with tea to the Congress leader and his team.

New Delhi, Feb 12: Congress president Rahul Gandhi is in Karnataka campaigning for the upcoming Assembly polls, dates for which are yet to be announced. During his ongoing ‘Jana Aashirwada Yatre‘, Rahul Gandhi stopped for a tea break at local dhaba at Kalmala village, Raichur. What attracted everyone’s attention was hot pakodas served along with tea to the Congress leader and his team.

Pakoda – the famous deep-fried Indian snack has been in the news since past several days when Prime Minister Narendra Mod had described selling pakodas at a roadside stall as also a mode of employment. PM Narendra Modi, in his interview with Zee News had said, “If a man selling pakodas outside the Zee TV office takes home Rs 200 at the end of the day, is that not employment?”

The Opposition led by the Congress had come down heavily on PM Modi and the BJP over the remark. The statement even reverberated in Parliament during the first part of the Budget session which concluded recently. (Also Read: Shame on You Mr Bhagwat For Disrespecting Martyrs, Army, Says Rahul Gandhi)

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“It is better to sell pakodas than remain jobless. Selling pakodas is not a matter of shame. It is a shame that P Chidambaram is comparing it with begging,” BJP president Amit Shah had said in his first Rajya Sabha speech with PM Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley sitting beside him.

Referring to PM Modi, Amit Shah said that when a tea-seller can become the prime minister, “who knows one day a pakoda seller becomes an industrialist”. “Many governments came to power with “gareebi hatao” slogan, but it is only the BJP which has worked towards it,” Shah added.

Shah’s attack on the Congress was in response to former finance minister P Chidambaram’s a dig at the PM. “Even selling pakodas is a ‘job’ said PM. By that logic, even begging is a job. Let’s count poor or disabled persons who are forced to beg for a living as ’employed’ people,” Chidambaram had tweeted.