I don't pack basmati rice from 5-star hotel': Mamata Banerjee's dig at 'Central Ministers'

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday claimed that she was different from 'Central Ministers who get basmati rice cooked from a five-star hotel outside' - taking an apparent dig at Home Minister Amit Shah during her visit to a tribal village in the Bankura district on Monday. Mamata Banerjee's remarks seemed to be aimed at the senior BJP leader - who also visited the same district on November 5 and dined with a Dalit family. Mamata Banerjee also pulled up the BJP for allegedly claiming that the statue garlanded by HM Amit Shah during his November 5 visit was that of Birsa Munda while the bust actually represented a 'hunter'. 

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Detailing her visit to the tribal village, Mamata Banerjee pointed out that she had sat with the villagers on the 'khatia' and had eaten food cooked by them, while taking a dig at 'Central Ministers'. The West Bengal CM claimed that HM Amit Shah was seen eating 'posto bora' while women were cutting up coriander and that the people were not fooled by such things anymore. Mamata Banerjee also demanded to know why the BJP had lied about the floral tributes paid to the bust of a hunter by HM Amit Shah and said that the BJP cannot 'break the statue of Vidyasagar, garland another statue and claim it was Rabindranath Tagore', claiming out that the people of the state won't forget the insult. 

"I went to a Scheduled Castes village today. I sat with them. On their khatia, not like central ministers who get basmati rice cooked from a five-star hotel outside... and then eat in their house, all painted and sanitised. We can see the women cutting up coriander but he is seen having a posto bora. No one is fooled by these things anymore," said Ms Banerjee.

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Mamata Banerjee also declared November 15 as a state holiday from 2021 as a mark of respect to tribal freedom fighter Birsa Munda. 

Responding to Mamata Banerjee's attack, West Bengal BJP's vice president Jay Prakash Majumdar asked Mamata Banerjee to carefully examine the footages of HM Amit Shah's visit to the village on November 5 and that everyone could see clearly what the senior BJP leader was eating. 

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TMC's campaign 

In the run-up to the West Bengal elections, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) has started a digital campaign called 'Mark Yourself safe from BJP' and the party said that till Tuesday as many as 10-lakh people had joined the campaign. The ruling Trinamool had launched the campaign on October 23 to inform people about the alleged wrongdoings of the BJP in the country. A brainchild of poll strategist Prashant Kishor and his I-PAC (Indian Political Action Committee) team, the campaign has allegedly witnessed maximum participation from people in the age group of 18-35 years.

Earlier the TMC had launched 'Didi Ke Bolo' campaign, also a brainchild of Kishor, about a year ago. In it people with any grievances on any issue could contact the chief minister's office by dialling a helpline number or through WhatsApp and Facebook. It has also launched a campaign "Bangla r Gorbo Mamata" (Didi, the pride of Bengal) in March. The BJP, on the other hand, has touted that it will win 200+ seats in the polls.

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