‘Is tea ever sampled for testing?’: Fatehpur vendor claims harassment after serving cuppa to Akhilesh Yadav

Reacting to the move, Akhilesh, in a long post in Hindi on his X account, wrote, “In Fatehpur, we had lovingly sipped tea at the shop of one among you, that ‘self-reliant Aryan’ [Sheshman’s son]. The Food Security Department took a sample of his tea and has threatened Aryan that since you make tea in aluminum utensils, they will seal your shop…”

Taking a swipe at the ruling party, he claimed: “… The BJP doesn’t provide anyone with jobs or employment; on the contrary, it threatens those who want to do something through their own hard work, simply because people like us go to them to honour their work, to encourage their business…”

प्रिय चायवालों,

फतेहपुर में हमने आपमें से एक, जिस ‘आत्मनिर्भर आर्यन’ की दुकान पर प्रेमपूर्वक चाय पी थी उसकी चाय का सैंपल फूड सिक्योरिटी विभाग ने लेकर, आर्यन को ये धमकी दी है कि तुम एल्युमीनियम के बर्तन में चाय बनाते हो, तुम्हारी दुकान सील कर देंगे। शुक्र है ये नहीं कहा कि ‘लाल’… pic.twitter.com/L9OU7TJb13

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) April 18, 2026

Sheshman said his family has been running the tea shop at Pahera Chowki for the last 35 years. He said he was sitting at his shop when Akhilesh arrived with others, in vehicles, in February. As he has difficulty standing for long, he sent his 18-year-old son, Aryan, to attend to the SP chief and serve him tea.

He claimed the harassment started after the SP chief stopped for tea at his shop. “I have not opened my tea shop today,” he said.

Assistant Commissioner, Food Safety (Fatehpur), Rajesh Dixit said on April 15, a food safety officer had visited Sheshman’s shop after a complaint was lodged on the IGRS portal regarding the quality of tea leaves used.

(Left) Screengrab from a purported video of food safety officers collecting samples from (R) tea stall vendor Sheshman Yadav’s stall. Express

“Samples were collected from the shop and sent to a laboratory for testing to settle the allegation; the report is awaited,” Dixit said, adding that the department has no connection with the allegations made by the shopkeeper.

When contacted over the matter, Samajwadi Party spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said this is “clear harassment of the poor through the misuse of power”.

On Friday, Sheshman also claimed he and his family were assaulted by local residents at the stall. His second son, Deepak Yadav (24), alleged: “They misbehaved with me and my family and fled with Rs 7,000 kept in a cash box at the shop.”

Police in Fatehpur have registered a case against four of a family, belonging to another community, on charges of assault and related offences in connection with the incident.

Tej Bahadur Singh, Station House Officer of Sultanpur Ghosh Police Station, where the FIR was lodged, said the altercation arose from a money dispute over tea. “Three of the accused named in the FIR have been arrested,” he said.