TMC Invites PM Modi to Experience Maa Canteen During Bengal Visit

PTI, April 25, 2026, Kolkata: The ruling Trinamool Congress on Saturday invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has enjoyed a boat ride on the Hooghly river and savoured street food 'jhalmuri', to round off his Bengal experience with a Rs 5 meal at the state government's Maa Canteen during his visit for poll campaigning.

Addressing a press conference here, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh asserted that every time Modi talks about infiltration in West Bengal, he inadvertently criticises his own Home Minister Amit Shah, whose responsibilities include border security.

The Prime Minister has been campaigning for the BJP candidates, and he should also experience the ground realities of the state under the Mamata Banerjee government, Ghosh said.

"We invite the Prime Minister to take out some time and eat at one of the Maa Canteens. You will get rice, dal and vegetables for Rs 5 at noon. You will get a vegetarian meal there. And if someone accompanies you, two can eat for Rs 10," the former Rajya Sabha MP said.

The Maa Canteen scheme is a West Bengal government initiative launched in 2021 by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee that provides subsidised cooked meals at just Rs 5 per plate. Hundreds of Maa Canteens are being run across the state, primarily targeting daily wage workers, the poor and the underprivileged.

Ghosh also pointed out that Modi recently had 'jhalmuri', a popular street food of Bengal, from a vendor originally from Bihar who had set up shop in Bengal's Jhargram. "It was Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's administration that had helped the vendor," the TMC spokesperson said.

Ghosh also said that the PM could enjoy a boat ride on the Hooghly river here on Friday, as the water is clean. "He could not have seized a similar photo opportunity on the Yamuna in Delhi. The water was so polluted there," the TMC leader claimed.

Ghosh also dismissed the BJP's oft-repeated allegations of infiltration in West Bengal, questioning the leadership in other border states ruled by the saffron party.

"Every time you (the PM) use the word infiltration, you are criticising your own Home Minister. If even one person enters Bengal and it is the TMC's fault, how are they getting into Tripura? How are they caught in other states? Your Home Minister has failed," he said.

Ghosh rejected Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's claim that no Bengali Hindus are lodged in detention camps for failing to prove their Indian citizenship in his state.

"Lakhs of Bengali Hindu families remain detained there. Those who keep Bengali Hindus locked in detention camps are coming here to show the Assam model. The people of Bengal will not tolerate this," the TMC leader said.

Ghosh alleged that the Election Commission was working at the behest of the BJP, and the Calcutta High Court criticised its directive to restrict the movement of two-wheelers ahead of polls.

He claimed that the saffron party has declared war on the people by harassing the working population at large in the state.