Shah's lunch at tribal family a show off food was cooked at five star hotels Mamata

(Adding Mamata Banerjee's quote on NRC)
    Bankura (WB), Nov 23 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee on Monday described Union Home Minister Amit
Shah's recent visit to a tribal household here for lunch as a
"show off" and claimed that the food items served to the BJP
leader were cooked at five-star hotels.
    Banerjee, during a programme in Bankura, hit out at
Shah for apparently mistaking a statue of a tribal hunter for
that of freedom fighter Birsa Munda and said her government
would declare his birth anniversary as a state holiday.
    The BJP had, however, maintained that it was Munda's
statue and 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, but none of the ingredients were actually
used to prepare the meal, she claimed.
    "...Basmati rice and 'postor bora' were served and 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.
    She 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 by
members of the 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 said.
    On the union home minister apparently garlanding a
statue of a tribal hunter under the impression that it was
that of Birsa Munda, Banerjee said "such actions would not be
tolerated".
    She also referred to the vandalism of a bust of Iswar
Chandra Vidyasagar during a mega rally of Shah in the city in
May 2019, and said it was an "insult".
    "He (Shah) had garlanded one statue which was not that
of Birsa Munda. Later I heard people saying that it was the
statue of a hunter. You cannot go on insulting us like this.
From next year Birsa Munda's birth anniversary will be a state
holiday," the chief minister added.
    Banerjee hit out at the Centre over the rising prices
of potatoes and onions, which were removed from the list of
essential commodities in the Essential Commodities (Amendment)
Bill passed in September 2020.
    The chief minister contended that the amendment to the
Act was brought to protect hoarders and asked the people not
to vote for the party responsible for it. She, however, did
not name any party.
    "The prices of essential commodities are
skyrocketting. Who is responsible for this? Earlier, potatoes
and onions used to be under the Essential Commodities Act.
Now Delhi (the Centre) has taken away the potatoes and you
will not be able to have even boiled potatoes and rice," she
told the gathering.
    Banerjee said that the party in power at the Centre
will take away everything from the farmers, dalits, tribals
and from the minorities and.
    "If they (party leading at the Centre) come to power
(in West Bengal), they will immediately try to introduce the
National Register for Citizens (NRC). They will ask you for
birth certificates of your father, your mother, your
grandmother and your grandfather. And if you are unable to
provide them with that they will ask you to leave Bengal," she
said.
    The BJP hit back at Banerjee and criticised her for
pursuing "negative politics" over Amit Shah's lunch at the
residence of a tribal family.
    "The TMC has a habit of playing politics in every
issue. The food that our party leader Amit Shah ji ate at
Bankura was cooked there at that very house," BJP national
secretary Anupam Hazra said.
    Referring to the controversy over garlanding of a
statue, Hazra asked Banerjee to produce a photograph of Birsa
Munda to prove her point.
    "She is claiming that it was not the statue of Birsa
Munda. I request her to produce a picture of the tribal leader
to prove her point. Can the TMC prove that the statue we
garlanded was not of Birsa Munda? Such tactics will no longer
bear any resuls," he added. PTI SCH
KK KK

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)