The Vada Pav People is a stand-up comedy group launched with a simple logic: Most people savour the vada pav, they will love the VP People too. In fact, the VPP served their audience with free hot vada pavs in the promotional shows, saying their identity goes hand-in-hand with the iconic chutney-induced Mumbai burger. As the group locks its dates and performance venues for the subsequent months coinciding with the nation's general elections, vada pav is not just synonymous with their self-image, but it is the Mumbai vote-seeker's safest bet to ensure a food-connect with voters/volunteers. While the city goes to poll on April 29th (after the three phases in other parts of the state), the vada pav steadily rises in its stature as the Mumbai politician's hassle-free innocuous treat which he or she can offer without much fuss.

"We are not politically-inclined, neither did we float this name because of the election-season clientele of vada-samosa-bhajia pavs. But we can gauge why hot vadas come in handy as a tool of engagement," jests Yashodhan Tak, one of the founders of VPP who hails from Nagpur and was culturally exposed only to the Tarri Pohe (seasoned puffed rice topped with spicy red curry and sev) breakfast option, often put to innovative use by Vidarbha politicians. But, in the city of distances and traffic, nothing can match the joy and convenience of stir-fried green chilies positioned inside the vada pav, served to the star campaigner's team taking an end-of-the-day count of visited households. As BJP legislator Praveen Darekar styles it the "ideal transit food" because "this is the time everyone is on the move, and the easy-to-carry spicy street vada matches the mood."