Bankura: 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 "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 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.
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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, the CM stated.
"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 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," she added.
