If Prime Minister Narendra Modi had struck a chord with the voters with his 'Chai pe Charcha' as he campaigned for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Aam Aadmi Party has in the run up to the Assembly elections in Delhi attempted a spoof on it with its 'Kaam ki Chai' campaign.
And helming this campaign of the AAP is another chaiwala from Gujarat. Ahmedabad-based Praful Billore, who is popularly known as 'MBA Chaiwala', opened a tea stall at the AAP headquarters in the national capital on Thursday. The tea stall, bearing a huge banner that highlights the work done by the Arvind Kejriwal government, doubles up as a mode of publicity.
Billore is said to have contacted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and suggested to him the idea of launching 'Kaam ki Chai' campaign to focus on the work done by the AAP government in the last five years.
Billore, who is popular in Gujarat as 'MBA Chaiwala', says he has followed Kejriwal on social media and is extremely impressed with the work done by his government.
“I wanted to meet him, and I tried to get in touch with him through various media. After the elections were announced, I contacted AAP leaders with my idea to set up a tea stall in the national capital, which highlights the work done by the Kejriwal government,” Billore said.
He said he plans to be in Delhi for the next ten days and will help in the AAP campaign by serving tea to the participants in Kejriwal's Town Hall meetings slated between January 23 and 30.
The tea-seller from Gujarat, an MBA dropout, claims to have started a tea stall with just Rs 8,000 four years ago, and says he now runs a cafe in Ahmedabad.
Interestingly, Modi's 'Chai pe Charcha' was a brainchild of election strategist Prashant Kishor, who is now helping the AAP with its strategy for the Assembly elections.