SP candidate from Varanasi complains of media attention on Modi and Kejriwal

VARANASI: Kailash Prasad Chaurasia, the Samajwadi Party candidate from Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, is proud of his ‘paanwallah’ background, and he likes to compare it with BJP's narrative of Narendra Modi having been a 'chaiwallah'.

“Paan Banaras ki shaan hai, pehchaan hai; chai ka wo darja nahi hai, (Paan is the honour and identity of Varanasi; tea ranks much lower),” says Chaurasia. The Chaurasia community is traditionally linked with betel leaf trade. This three-time legislator from Mirzpur since 2002, and state minister in Akhilesh government, Chaurasia, with his Benarasi gift of gab, can switch from serious to the comic with finesse.

Take this for example: “Have you heard the khaike Paan Banaras wala … Chora Ganga Kinare Wala song from Amitabhstarrer Don (1980s)?” asks Chaurasia, amid wide smiles all around the gathering. “I am the original Chora Ganga kinare wala in Varanasi (the lad from Varanasi Ghats).” Asked if he has ever actually prepared and sold a paan, Chaurasia smiles, “Even though I left the shop a long time ago, I haven’t forgotten the art of rolling the betel leaf. Do you want me to make one for you right now?”

But Chaurasia has a grouse. He says media attention is focussed too much on Modi and then on Kejriwal. His answer: he says he's campaigning from early morning to 10 pm. "A paanwallah in Banares never really shuts shop", he says.