Congress President Rahul Gandhi Throws Chai-Pakoda Party in K’taka

Congress President Rahul Gandhi is seen bonding with Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah over pakodas.

Gandhi is seen having his own Chai-Pakoda party with Karnataka CM, Siddaramaiah in Raichur, Karnataka.

(Photo Courtesy: @INCIndia/Twitter)

Congress President Rahul Gandhi is on the road, campaigning for the upcoming Karnataka elections. Gandhi is seen having his own chai-pakoda party with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah at a tea stall in Kalmala village of Raichur district in Karnataka.

The video got a lot of attention amid all the brouhaha over pakodas.

Pakodas sparked a political row after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that it is better to sell pakodas and earn money than being unemployed. Modi’s remark gained much attention and was ridiculed by the opposition.

Former Finance Minister, P Chidambaram, in an exclusive interview to The Quint, said his remark wasn’t made with the intention of deriding those who sell pakodas for a living. Chidambaram maintained that India’s youth are being forced to sell pakodas as they have no other means of livelihood.

I am not decrying pakoda selling. But listen to what young men selling pakodas are saying. Do they want to sell pakodas? They protested against PM Modi’s rally in Karnataka, wearing their graduate gowns. A graduate doesn’t want to sell pakodas. He is doing that because he has nothing else, nothing better to do.

P Chidambaram, Former Finance Minister

Initiating the debate on the Motion of Thanks for the President's address, BJP President Amit Shah took on senior Congress leader P Chidambaram for his 'pakoda' jibe and said it was better to sell pakodas than be unemployed.

It is better for a youth to earn his living selling pakodas instead of being unemployed. Making pakodas is not shameful; what is shameful is comparing such a person with a beggar.

Amit Shah, BJP MP

Chidambaram further added that selling pakodas doesn’t amount to having a job. He cited the ILO definition of a job, which involves regularised salary and a sense of job security.