What Was On Nitin Nabin’s Plate? Sawan Meal Triggers Political Row

The Chhattisgarh Congress on Wednesday took a swipe at BJP national president Nitin Nabin over a video showing him and other party leaders having a meal at a recent event in the state, claiming that the leaders were seen eating non-vegetarian food despite the BJP's emphasis on Sanatan Dharma and its associated values.

Hours later, the BJP strongly rejected the allegation, saying the dish shown in the footage was actually a traditional raw jackfruit curry.

The controversy began after the Chhattisgarh Congress shared the video on X and sought to question the BJP's stated commitment to its religious and cultural principles.

The opposition party alleged that the visuals showed senior BJP leaders consuming non-vegetarian food during Sawan, a period considered religiously significant by the members of the Hindu community, and they abstain from eating non-vegetarian food during that period.

To underline its criticism, Congress edited the footage with an old Bollywood song featuring the lines, "Look at the state your world has fallen into, O God; How much man has changed—how much he has changed".

The video also carried the text, "Hey Rama! Look what the president of the Sansari party is doing in the holy month of Saawan".

The Congress further captioned its X post with a pointed attack on the BJP's religious positioning, writing, "Oh Rama! Sanatan on the lips, refinement in speeches... the rest of BJP's conduct is out in the open".

Through the post, the Chhattisgarh Congress sought to portray the visuals as evidence of a contrast between the BJP's public emphasis on Sanatan values and the alleged conduct of its leaders.

BJP’S Rebuttal

The BJP responded with a sharp rebuttal, dismissing the Congress claim as a misleading narrative.

The party said the food item that appeared to resemble a non-vegetarian dish was, in fact, a vegetarian preparation made from raw jackfruit.

In its response, the BJP said, "What you mistook for non-veg is actually a traditional raw jackfruit masala curry, served on a banana leaf as part of the pure vegetarian cuisine from Uttarandhra".

The party also directly criticised the Chhattisgarh Congress, adding, "Before running fake narratives, try to understand a bit about South Indian cuisine and culture too!"

The party further listed all the dishes on their platter, saying that apart from the tender jackfruit masala curry, it also included dondakai palli fry, paneer curry, drumstick curry, soya chunks curry, and green gram batter dumplings.

The BJP's counter sought to turn the controversy around by arguing that Congress had misidentified a regional vegetarian dish and then built a political narrative around it.

The party maintained that the footage did not establish the allegation made by the opposition and accused Congress of using the visuals to attack its leadership.

The exchange has since turned the meal footage into a fresh political flashpoint between the BJP and Congress in Chhattisgarh.

While Congress has used the video and its accompanying message to question the BJP's religious positioning, the BJP is expected to continue challenging the allegation and portraying it as an example of misinformation and political opportunism.