The political landscape of Himachal Pradesh took an unexpected turn this week, all thanks to a missing batch of samosas. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a scathing attack on the Congress-led state government for what they called a ‘skewed’ prioritization, directing the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to probe the disappearance of the snacks intended for Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu. The samosas, accidentally served to staff during an event last month, became the subject of a bizarre internal CID investigation, sparking outrage among the BJP.
To protest this perceived absurdity, the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) organized a ‘samosa’ march through the capital city of Shimla on Saturday. BJP MLA Ashish Sharma, in a Facebook post, lamented the state’s pressing issues like unemployment, financial crisis, and delayed pensions, claiming that a CID inquiry over samosas was a grave disappointment. In a symbolic act of defiance, he sent 11 samosas to the Chief Minister, aiming to remind him of the real problems plaguing the people.
Fellow BJP MLA Sudhir Sharma echoed similar sentiments, labeling the Congress government’s actions as a national embarrassment, turning Himachal Pradesh into a laughingstock. However, Chief Minister Sukhu maintained that the CID probe was not about missing samosas but an internal investigation related to an incident of misbehavior. He emphasized the non-political nature of the investigation, asserting that the government was not involved and was merely trying to uncover the source of the leak about the internal matter. CID Deputy General Sanjeev Ranjan Ojha corroborated this, stating that they were investigating how the information was leaked, while maintaining that the Chief Minister does not even consume samosas.
While the political drama unfolded, the bizarre sequence of events ironically brought significant marketing success for the samosa in question. The ‘missing’ samosa, crafted by the Radisson Hotel in Shimla, has become the talk of the hill town, attracting tourists eager to sample the snack that made headlines. The hotel’s chef, Rajiv Bhardwaj, expressed amazement at the newfound popularity, highlighting how this incident surpassed the fame he garnered for making khichdi in Tata Pani in 2019, which earned him a Guinness World Record.
The saga of the missing samosas in Himachal Pradesh serves as a testament to the unpredictable nature of politics, where even a simple snack can become a catalyst for controversy and unexpected fame. The incident has undoubtedly raised eyebrows across the nation, prompting discussions on prioritization and the potential pitfalls of political grandstanding.
