How ‘boondi laddoo’ unites leaders and parties

Come June 4 and the leaders and supporters of Congress, Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) would throng their party offices as results of the Lok Sabha polls would pour in following weeks of acrimonious campaigns in extremely hot conditions. 

Like in the past, fresh boondi laddoo would be distributed in offices of parties getting favourable results. 

Ashish Verma, a Congress activist from the Chandni Chowk Lok Sabha seat, says that party leaders or workers buy packets of laddoo once they get an idea about their party winning.  

Since most of the party offices are located in the heart of the Capital, it takes less than one hour to buy laddoo from either Bhagat Singh Market near Gole Market or Bengali market. The mithai shops in these markets are big and prestigious and they easily provide the required stuff.

Says Girish Agrawal, owner of the 1936-established Bengali Sweet House at Bengali Market, “As boondi laddoo is considered a very auspicious mithai, we always keep it in ready stock. We keep getting orders for it. We have been supplying boondi laddoo to all the political parties since long. All visit our shop irrespective of their ideologies. Laddoo unites them.”

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Market is also popular among the lovers of quality laddoo in the Capital. Naturally, political leaders send their staff to buy laddoo from established shops like Bangla Sweet House, Kaleva and Odeon Sweet House of Bhagat Singh Market. They are time-tested shops and have been serving their clients for decades.  

“We have been supplying sweets, mainly laddoo, to the Congress headquarters at 24, Akbar Road since long. When Congress was ruling the roost in Delhi as well as India, we often supplied laddoo to their offices,” informs an employee of Bangla Sweet House.

According to Manoj Sehgal, a BJP activist from East Delhi Lok Sabha seat, “I am pretty sure that my party would get favourable result on June 4. Once it would be clear that my party will form the government again, I will go to Bengali Market and buy 10 kg laddoo to distribute at my party’s headquarters at Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg. Luckily, our state office is also there on the same road.” 

Sehgal distributed laddoo even when the BJP headquarter was at Ashok Road. He always distributes boondi laddoo even though he is fond of besan laddoo.

Over the years, Rouse Avenue/Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg has emerged as the political hotspot of the Capital. The offices of AAP and Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee are also there. 

It goes without saying that if AAP does well in Delhi and Punjab, a large number of party workers would assemble there. 

Of course, laddoo would be served there in abundance. In any case, the mood there would be sedate as their supreme leader Arvind Kejriwal would not be around as he has to surrender to police before June 4. 

No AAP leader is ready to discuss the scenario of Arvind Kejriwal not being around on the D-day.

Congress, which has put out candidates from Chandni Chowk, North West Delhi and North East Delhi, is hopeful that it would improve its tally at all-India level and clinch some seats in Delhi.  

Rajesh Sharma, who has been looking after the campaign of JP Aggarwal, the Congress candidate, says, “I will distribute laddoo if JP sir wins. He is our true leader. He always looks after his constituency and party workers. As a Railway line separates my house from the Bengali Market, I will buy laddoo from the Bengali Market.”

The sound of dhols

Can you imagine a happy scene in a political party’s office without the beats of dhols? That is unthinkable. 

Surely, top dholwalas would throng party offices on their own since morning of the counting day. No happy occasion in Delhi is complete without the beats of dhols. Once they play with dhols, you cannot stop dance-loving workers from shaking their legs. 

Most of the dholwalas in the Capital are based in Shivpuri in east Delhi, Madangir and Ambedkar Nagar in south Delhi and Madipur in west Delhi. They would be there in the offices of AAP, BJP and Congress without any invite. 

Nanhe, an ace dholwala from Shivpuri, says, “We would reach the office of BJP before 9 in the morning on June 4. We don’t need an invite from anyone. Like in the past, once we start our job, people give us money generously. We create the mood.” 

However, they were duly invited when the campaign was on. They are an integral part of every roadshow or padyatra. They get Rs 2,000 for five hours. Apart from remuneration, some people also pay them a good tip. 

“The role of dholwalas cannot be ignored by anyone. Once they begin their job, both leaders and workers get energy to fight,” says Herjinder Singh Sodhi, a BJP leader from East of Kailash area. 

Sodhi has been helping both Bansuri Swaraj and Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, BJP candidates from New Delhi and South Delhi seats respectively.

Spare a thought for those parties and party candidates who would be defeated despite their best efforts. We have seen the deserted offices of those parties that were rejected by the people. 

Campaigning for more than 15 hours daily for weeks together in extremely hot conditions is not easy. However, we have seen leaders like Sajjan Kumar, Madan Lal Khurana and Subhash Chopra arrange a get-together of their core supporters even if they lost the election. 

Now, let’s wait and watch as to who would open the laddoo packets on June 4.