BHUBANESWAR: Tea Sellers in the Twin City are busier than the usual now. As political talks heat up ahead of the elections, people are seeking endless cups of hot tea and coffee at the tea joints to keep the spirited debates going. At the same time, candidates of different parties are frequenting these joints every morning to host ‘Cha Khatti’ and connect with people to discuss the local issues and their concerns. Amidst the talks, it is the tea sellers who are cashing in on the crowds.
Outside the Jay Prakash Narayan park in CDA sector-6 at Cuttack, tea seller Dayanidhi Swain is happy with the sales that have increased ever since BJD leaders started frequenting the park to meet the voters. Here, the BJD MP face Santrupt Misra, Barabati-Cuttack MLA candidate Prakash Behera and Rajya Sabha member Debashish Samantaray have been meeting people at the park and tea stalls outside almost every day.
They recently hosted a ‘Cha Khatti’ in the area where issues faced by the local residents and youths were discussed. Swain brewed close to 70 cups of tea worth Rs 10 each within an hour on the day, both for the politicians, their followers and the commoners.
“Every time there is a meeting, there is a boom in my business. As it is, more cha and biscuits are selling ever since the elections were announced. Because except at noon hours, people frequent the tea stalls throughout the day and sit back for the long election charchas and debates,” he said.
Misra, who has been meeting morning walkers at the park every day, said the parks and the tea stalls are informal platforms where one meets people from different walks of life without any barriers for a free-flowing conversation on their issues and suggestions. “The discussions that take place here are at a personal level, stimulating, refreshing and informative,” he said.
At Bhubaneswar too, many BJP leaders can be seen visiting parks during mornings and some have extended their campaigns to the tea stalls in their constituencies. The party’s Ekamra constituency’s candidate Babu Singh said he is regularly engaging in ‘Cha Khati’ to know the issues of the people, highlight the Centre’s various welfare schemes implemented in the past and his vision for overall development if he wins the high voltage elections. He will face BJD’s Ashok Chandra Panda in the constituency.
There are 12 major parks in the Ekamra assembly constituency. And Singh has been meeting people at the tea stalls located close to the parks every day. BJP’s Central and North assembly candidates Jagannath Pradhan and Priyadarshi Mishra respectively are also interacting with the people at tea stalls in their areas. They said that ‘Cha Khati’ sessions are giving them an opportunity to interact with citizens irrespective of age, gender and social status.
For Brajabandhu Barik who owns a small tea stall near the Rameswar temple under the constituency, the election season is a source of additional income. Owing to the political discussions at his stall over a cup of the common man’s favourite beverage, he has earned Rs 9,000 since the elections were declared against his normal income of Rs 5,000. “Every cup sells at Rs 10. And when a person engages in debates on what’s going to affect the votes and who’s going to win which seat, he consumes a minimum of four cups of tea or coffee instead of the regular one. Cakes and biscuits are add-ons,” he said.
Political discussions over tea - ‘Chai Pe Charcha’ - was started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2014 elections. Local leaders here have rechristened it as ‘Cha Khatti’.