‘Jhalmuri Politics’ Gets Hottest with Mamata Banerjee Branding PM Modi’s Street Food Visit as ‘Staged Drama’

The highly charged political contest in West Bengal has taken a culinary turn this Monday as the state’s Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee, went on a tirade against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While addressing an election rally in the Murarai assembly constituency of Birbhum district, the TMC leader lambasted the Prime Minister for indulging in a “staged drama” to win over voters.

The spat follows the unexpected visit by PM Modi to a street food shop in Jhargram on Sunday, during which he purchased a box of jhalmuri, a popular Bengali street delicacy that comprises puffed rice and spice powder. Video footage of the event showing him buying from the street vendor and speaking to locals has become immensely popular online. However, Mamata Banerjee accused the Prime Minister of a pre-planned stunt, citing the availability of high-end camera equipment inside the food shack even before his arrival there.

Allegation of Scripted Optics and SPG

“It was all staged,” declared Banerjee to her enthusiastic audience without mentioning the name of the Prime Minister. “How could it be that a camera was already fixed inside the shop when the Prime Minister decided to make an unscheduled halt? It was all a well-rehearsed charade.” She added that the jhalmuri was made according to the guidance of the SPG, indicating that the whole process was not as spontaneous as it seemed.

Banerjee did not spare the optics of the whole transaction either. She ridiculed the Prime Minister’s act of pulling out a ten rupee note from his pocket. “He carried with him a ten-rupee note,” she sarcastically commented. “Is it even plausible?” Thus, it was a case of a meticulously choreographed performance aimed at reinforcing the PM’s populist image as a “man of the masses.”

The BJP, in support of the Prime Minister, has justified the stopping over at the rally as being the Prime Minister’s way of making a genuine contact amidst his arduous election schedule which had him holding four rallies on Sunday. Despite the Prime Minister taking the opportunity of addressing the rally at Jhargram for criticizing the TMC for its policy of giving preference to “infiltrators” than the native tribes, the politics has now been overtaken by the fiery debate surrounding a pack of puffed rice. As the last phase of 2026 Assembly elections is slated for April 29, Jhalmuri Politics looks here to stay.