Feast or fiasco? Himachal's political slugfest over 'junglee murga' gets a spicy twist

Strange as it may sound but the political slugfest between the Congress and BJP in Himachal Pradesh has become a gastronomical fight with references to “junglee murga” (wild chicken) and “phulkas” (chappatis) being made to hurl accusations at each other.

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The latest controversy--for the Congress government--revolves around serving of “junglee murga (wild chicken) at Kupvi village in Chopal area of district Shimla, where the Chief Minister spent last night with villagers.

The video of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu being served “junglee murga” for dinner last night has gone viral on social media.

Even as one can hear the CM saying that he does not eat it, he asked the villagers to serve it to his ministerial colleague Dhani Ram Shandil, the Health minister, seated next to him and others while sitting on the floor and eating with everyone.

Not the ones to miss the opportunity to hit out at the CM, Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur tweeted that those who had objection to serving of “phulkas” at the Jan Manch programme during the BJP rule are today relishing “jungle murga”. The Congress had accused the previous BJP regime of spending crores on feeding people “phulkas” (chappatis) and food at the Jan Manch programme held to listen to public grievances.

जनता के घर द्वार जाकर लोगों की समस्याओं के निराकरण करने की हमारी योजना ‘जनमंच’ के फुलके जिन्हे खल रहे थे वह आज गाँव गाँव जा कर पिकनिक मना रहे हैं और क्या कर रहे है जनता सब देख रही है 🧐

संरक्षित प्रजाति के जंगली मुर्गा खाने वालों को जेल होती है, जुर्माना होता है लेकिन… pic.twitter.com/NjtN0iDjXN

— Jairam Thakur (@jairamthakurbjp) December 14, 2024

This comes close on the heels of samosa controversy, where an inquiry had been ordered by the CID wing of the police to trace the missing samosas during a function attended by the Chief Minister.

BJP leader Chetan Bragta said that the CM should apologise.

मुख्यमंत्री जी माफी मांगें!

सरकारी कार्यक्रम में 'जंगली मुर्गा' जैसे संरक्षित पक्षी का परोसा जाना वन्यजीव संरक्षण कानूनों का सीधा उल्लंघन है। यह देवभूमि हिमाचल की परंपराओं और पर्यावरण के प्रति हमारी संवेदनशीलता का अपमान है। कांग्रेस सरकार की इस लापरवाही पर तुरंत कार्रवाई होनी… pic.twitter.com/HeYIG10vK1

— Chetan Bragta (@chetanbragta) December 14, 2024