Bankura (West Bengal): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Monday described Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent visit to a tribal household here for lunch as ‘show off’. Mamata Banerjee claimed that the food items served to the BJP leader were cooked at five-star hotels.
Banerjee, during a programme here, hit out at Shah for apparently mistaking a statue of a tribal hunter for that of freedom fighter Birsa Munda. She said her government would declare his birth anniversary as state holiday. BJP had, however, maintained that it was Munda’s statue. It asked the CM to produce a photograph of the tribal leader to prove her point.
“A few days ago, our honourable home minister had come (here), which was a show off. Food items like Basmati rice, postor bora (poppy seed fritters) cooked in five-star hotels were taken to the Dalit household. One Brahmin was also brought in from outside,” the chief minister contended.
Shah, during his visit to Bengal earlier in the month, had visited a tribal household in Bankura, and a Matua home in Kolkata.
The family members were shown chopping vegetables prior to the lunch. However, none of the ingredients were actually used to prepare the meal, Banerjee told reporters.
“I have seen in newspapers that Basmati rice and ‘postor bora’ were served… The coriander leaves which the family members were shown chopping were not used in any of the items. People these days can see through such things,” Banerjee said.
Banerjee also claimed that the house was sanitised and given a fresh coat of paint before Shah undertook the visit.
“Today I visited a village here, largely dominated my members of Tapasili community. There, I sat on a khatia (cot) and met the locals. My visit was not planned. I met everyone and enquired about their requirements,” she pointed out.
The BJP leadership, on its part, criticised Banerjee for pursuing ‘negative politics’ over Shah’s lunch at a tribal family’s residence.
“The TMC has a habit of playing politics on every issue. The food that our party leader Amit Shah ji ate there was cooked there at that very house,” BJP national secretary Anupam Hazra said.