Samajwadi Sugandh' is smell of success in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow: Call it the sweet smell of success or just another innovation. The Akhilesh Yadav government has now launched the “Samajwadi Sugandh”, a limited-edition perfume from Kannauj with four fragrances to mark four years in power.

According to Mr Yadav, the four fragrances can be identified with iconic places in Uttar Pradesh and stand for equality, progress and efficiency.

The four special-edition Samajwadi perfumes symbolise four icons in UP —Benaras ghat (Varanasi), Kannauj, Taj Mahal, and Rumi Darwaza in Lucknow. Each fragrance is intended to be reminiscent of these icons.

The Samajwadi Sugandh, according to sources, will be a limited-edition perfume, restricted for use and distribution by the chief minister.

“The perfume will not be open for sale. It will be the chief minister’s gift to his visitors, guests and dignitaries,” said a senior official. It comes in a pack of four bottles cased in a wooden box. Each box contains 50ml of each perfume and the initial production is only of 5,000 boxes.

Puneet Jain, an award-winning perfumer who is behind the Samajwadi Sugandh, said, “The chief minister and I discussed the idea of these perfumes about two years ago. We finalised the icons and then began a long and historical study into the fragrances that could be identified with these icons.”

He said that the Samajwadi Benaras ghat perfume was a combination of marigold and incense smoke that would evoke memories of the waters of the Ganga. The Rumi Darwaza perfume includes heavy scents of rose, jasmine and sandalwood — all ingredients used extensively by nawabs of Oudh.

The Samajwadi Sugandh of Kannauj and Taj Mahal borrow similarly from the heady scents of kewra and rose, respectively.

Mr Yadav said, “Music has always been a part of socialism and it has got fragrance too. I have always said that even our rivers are socialist in nature because they serve everyone equally. The Samajwadi Sugandh is a similar initiative and will unite everyone in the party and outside, and spread the message of socialism far and wide.”

This is the first time that any political party has launched a perfume for itself. While some have lauded the launch of perfume, many Samajwadi workers are unable to comprehend the purpose behind it. “What is the use of launching it if it is not available to party workers and the common man”? asked a party worker.