Read why Rasmalai is trending after BJP swept Maharashtra municipal polls, like Jalebi had trended after the Haryana elections

BJP-led Mahayuti is heading for a landslide victory in local body elections in Maharashtra, as the party is set to win crucial cities like Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, and most other cities where the polls were held. In India, election victories are traditionally celebrated with Laddus, especially Motichur Laddus. But, this time it is different, as there is a buzz on social media that the BJP should celebrate the victory with the dessert Rasmalai.

Microblogging site 𝕏 flooded with posts mentioning Rasmalai, MNS chief Raj Thackeray and BJP leader Annamalai, after the results of the polls started to appear. Many users used AI-generated images and videos showing the politicians and the dessert.

Even BJP leaders joined the trend, and posted Rasmalai themed comments on X regarding the election results.

BJP MP Tejasvi Surya called it a sweet ‘Rasmalai’ victory for BJP in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Election.

Some enthusiastic BJP workers are even sending Rasmalai boxes to Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS leaders, as per claims on social media.

This led some people to question, what is the link between Rasmalai and the election results? The buzz stems from a derogatory jibe by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray, who mocked BJP leader K. Annamalai as “Rasmalai” during a fiery rally ahead of the January 15 voting.

Thackeray, rallying support for Marathi unity and criticising outsiders’ involvement in local issues, questioned Annamalai’s presence in Mumbai, saying, “A Rasmalai had come to Mumbai from Tamil Nadu,” while also using provocative slogans like “Hatao lungi, bajao pungi.”

The jibe using the nickname by Thackeray, playing on the name Annamalai rhyming with the sweet’s name, came after Annamalai’s comments that Mumbai requires a “triple-engine government”—a BJP mayor in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the state, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre.

Annamalai had hit back, dismissing the personal attacks, saying, “Who are Raj Thackeray and Aditya Thackeray to threaten me? I am proud to be a farmer’s son. They are holding meetings only to abuse me. I don’t even know when I became so important.”

BJP has reason to celebrate with Rasmalai, as the party is securing massive win in the elections across Maharashtra’s 29 municipal corporations, encompassing 2,869 seats in 893 wards. The Mahayuti alliance, comprising BJP, Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP, is leading in around 1,700 wards statewide and poised to dominate 24 of the 29 urban bodies.

In Mumbai’s BMC, with 227 wards at stake, the BJP-Shiv Sena combine crossed the majority mark of 114, leading in 165 seats, effectively ending the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s 30-year grip on the corporation. BJP alone is leading in 90 wards, with Shinde Sena in 75. BJP and its allies are set to form municipal bodies in almost cities in Maharashtra, apart from few urban bodies won by Congress.

MNS is winning just 13 wards in the entire state, and not forming any municipal body anywhere.

This is not the first time an India dessert was associated with electoral politics. After the Haryana assembly elections in 2024, another sweet Jalebi was being invoked. As the initial results had shown that Congress was leading, the party had posted “Happy Jalebi Day” on X to celebrate. But when they lost in the final results, BJP also mentioned Jalebi while celebrating their victory.

That time, Jalebi became associated with the election because Congress leader Rahul Gandhi mentioned it in his election rallies.

Written by OpIndia Staff
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