Just when the BJP leadership lambasted the Congress for its chaiwala remark on the party’s PM candidate Narendra Modi in Delhi, hundreds of BJP volunteers and supporters in the NCR had their own way of giving a fitting reply to the ruling party and its leaders. On Sunday, BJP volunteers took to streets and served ‘Modi chai’ to people. These supporters assembled outside Metro stations and other prominent locations and urged people to vote for Modi for building a corruption-free India.
At Ghaziabad’s Vaishali Metro station, over a dozen party workers were seen reaching out to pedestrians and Metro travellers alike offering them free tea in cups bearing Narendra Modi’s mugshot. The move came as a surprise to many who gladly rushed to get a cup for themselves.
“A few Congress leaders have raised doubts on how a chaiwala can become India’s PM. So the party has decided that we will win people’s hearts by serving tea, as Modi used to do during his early days. We want to instil the belief in them that even a person from a humble background can reach the top post,” said Pavnesh Pandey, a BJP volunteer of Ghaziabad who supervised the programme.
Initiated in Ghaziabad, the volunteers will now carry the ‘Modi chai’ drive every Sunday across the Capital and NCR in a run-up to the general elections scheduled for April-May. The BJP would also set up stalls welcoming volunteers for the upcoming lS elections scheduled for April-May. Just adjacent to the tea stalls which had pictures of Modi, another set of volunteers were busy filling details of supporters who were eager to join and work for the party. “Apart from the missed call volunteer drive, we are also physically registering members. Anyone who is interested to work for the party has to fill in his/her name, address, mobile number and voter ID card number,” Pandey added.
Similar initiative was carried out in Noida and Kaushambi. Delhi too will soon witness the ‘Modi chai’ campaign, said party workers. Going a step ahead, the party is pulling out all stops to woo voters and help them in the process by making their voter ID cards. “Our volunteers are also directed to do all the formalities that go into making a voter ID card. Anyone who does not have a card should inform us and we shall get all the forms filled and submitted,” informed another party worker.