New Delhi: One rather unexpected response to Aam Aadmi Party’s sweeping victory in the Delhi assembly elections on Tuesday was a spike in sales of biryani, and some restaurateurs offered discounts to cash in on the sudden surge in demand for the traditional rice-based delicacy.

Social media platforms have been flooded with posts of citizens announcing celebrations with biryani after the AAP win. This was in response to comments of some senior BJP leaders, including Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath, that AAP was serving biryani to anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protesters at Shaheen Bagh in South Delhi.

“We have seen a higher uptake on our orders today, which looks to increase through the evening,” said Raymond Andrews, cofounder at Biryani Blues, a restaurant chain in the national capital region. “Biryani as a cuisine is celebratory by nature, be it a birthday, an anniversary or friends celebrating,” he said.

Many restaurants have come up with promotional offers on biryani. “We are doing a 1+1 (one-plus-one) on all biriyanis for delivery 6 PM and 10:30 PM today,” said Thomas Fenn, partner at Mahabelly, a south Indian restaurant at Saket. “We are seeing clear increase in biryani sales.”

Vishal Jindal, cofounder of biryani and kebab chain Biryani by Kilo (BBK), said the chain is running a 25% off promotional exercise.

“Despite being a Tuesday, we are seeing a sales pickup,” he said. Many people in India refrain from consuming non-vegetarian food on Tuesday for religious reasons. Founded in 2015, BBK operates under the cloud-kitchen model and has about two dozen outlets with more than half of them in Delhi-NCR.

“The Kejriwal government provides biryani to the people sitting at protest at Shaheen Bagh and other places,” Adityanath had said at some election rallies he had addressed in Delhi. Shaheen Bagh in New Delhi’s Okhla has turned into an anti-CAA protest site with hundreds of people camping there.