Senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya on Friday made an odd remark on humble ‘poha’ that sent Twitter into a tizzy. Addressing a pro-CAA event, the BJP’s national general secretary said that he suspected that there were some Bangladeshis among construction labourers who worked at his house recently. And how did he arrive at that conclusion – by observing the strange ‘eating habits’. Talking about the construction work at his home, Vijayvargiya said that when a new room was being added at his house recently, he found "eating habits" of some of the workers "strange" as "they were eating only `poha' (flattened rice)". After talking to their supervisor and the building contractor, he suspected that these workers were from Bangladesh, the BJP leader said.
When questioned by media, Vijayvargiya said, "I suspected these workers were residents of Bangladesh. Two days after I became suspicious, they stopped working at my house. "I have not filed any police complaint yet. I only mentioned this incident to warn people," he added.
Understandably, Twitter was aghast at the strange remark. Without naming Vijayvargiya, senior Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi remarked on Twitter. “A politician from Indore saying Poha eating labourers are Bangladeshis. RIP all argument from Indori poha lovers lest you be called Bangladeshis aur kaagaz bhi nahin dikhaane padenge certificate milne se pehle. PS: Maharashtra kanda poha rocks!,” Chaturvedi remarked. And then there were those who wondered if its poha today, any dish can be on target tomorrow.
Made form flattened rice, poha is a popular breakfast dish for many Indians. In fact, several netizens pointed out at the irony of Vijaywargiya’s statement. Because, Indore is known as poha capital, the place where the ‘Bangaldeshi’ workers were commissioned. Earlier, there were reports that Madhya Pradesh was planning to seek Geographical Indication (GI) tag for the famous 'Indori poha' and three other popular food items from Malwa region. The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Development Institute in Indore is helping this food manufacturers' and sellers' body in seeking the GI tag for these four food items. Sweet dishes like the famous 'peda' from Dharwad in Karnataka, and the 'Banglar Rasgulla' of West Bengal have already got the GI recognition. A geographical indication tag is used for an agricultural, natural or a manufactured product (handicraft and industrial goods) originating from a definite geographical territory.
While Vijayvargiya’s pro-CAA statement linking food to ‘outsiders’ is new, earlier Prime Minister Narendra Modi had linked the rioters with the clothes they wear. At a rally in Jharkhand's Dumka, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that those who indulge in arson can be identified by their clothes. On December 17 last year, PM Modi had said that: "People who are setting fire (to property) can be seen on television. They can be identified by the clothes they are wearing." The Prime Minister had accused the Congress and its allies of fuelling violence over the amended Citizenship Act.
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