Mumbai, April 13: From snacking Chole Bhature, to Sandwich to Biryani; politics in our country has been reduced to that of symbolism in the last few weeks! Political entities cut-across party lines – Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC), All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIDMK), and other regional parties – have indulged in fasting, citing various issues. Their ideologies and cause to observe fast would be different, but then one thing common amongst them was that they could not even a day-long fast, as leaders from their parties were caught satiating their appetite.

In recent days, political parties have taken the route of (so-called) non-violence and have observed fast in order to put forth their ideologies. We take a look at the political parties and their blunders committed in recent times.

1. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued a whip to all its lawmakers to observe a day-long fast, on April 12, in their constituencies to ‘expose’ those few who ‘throttled’ democracy. Along with the Prime Minister, a lot of Union Ministers joined him and observed fasts in different parts of the country. However, few could not!

BJP was left red-faced, on Thursday, after two of their legislators were caught on the camera having food. Bhimrao Tapkir & Sanjay Bhegade, BJP legislators from Pune, were caught having sandwiches and chips during an official meeting in the City Council Hall.

In another embarrassing incident for the party, a BJP Uttarakhand leader Harak Singh Rawat was caught snacking cashew nuts at an event too. He confessed, “All party leaders had observed a fast today but by mistake, I had cashew at an event.”

2. Indian National Congress (INC)

Congress President Rahul Gandhi, on Monday, was to observe a fast from 11 am to 4 pm at Rajghat, against the caste violence that erupted during the Bharat Bandh protests organised by several Dalit organisations. Rahul was involved in another gaffe as his ‘T20 fast’ drew sharp criticism on the social media. ‘Was it a fast of any kind?’ was the question a lot of people were left asking at the end of the day.

On the same day, an image of Congress leaders Ajay Maken, Haroun Yusuf, and Arvinder Singh Lovely eating ‘Chole-Bhature’ surfaced online. The party was left embarrassed and there seemed no merit in the as Congress’ Delhi unit Chief Ajay Maken said, “Aren’t we allowed to eat before 11 a.m.?”

3. All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)

The AIADMK party leaders, on Tuesday, observed a day-long hunger strike to condemn the Central government for not forming the Cauvery Management Board (CMB). However, many AIADMK leaders were caught on the camera having platefuls of rice.

People on social media didn’t let go of the incident and took verbal jibes at the party’s dramatic day-long fast. A lot of people on the social media guessed wildly it to be either ‘biryani’, ‘chicken biryani’, or ‘tomato rice’ during their alleged ‘lunch break’.

The following incidents do testify the fact that politics in the country have been reduced to that of symbolism in recent times, and the politicians across parties are guilty of it. With issues such as Unnao rape and Kathua gang rape cases at the foray, the politicians seem to show fake concerns for such matters as there is no ground action visible as such.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 13, 2018 09:43 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).