The humble jhalmuri, the quintessential Bengali snack made of puffed rice, has added spice to this election season with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday dismissing PM Narendra Modi’s viral jhalmuri stop in Jhargram on Sunday as a “staged drama”.

“It’s all drama. How come a camera was fitted inside the shop when the PM suddenly made an unscheduled stop during the campaign? The entire episode was scripted. The SPG prepared the jhalmuri for him… He (Modi) was seen carrying a Rs 10 in his pocket. Is it believable?” Banerjee said as she addressed a TMC election rally in Murarai Assembly constituency in Birbhum district.

On Sunday, the PM’s video of stopping at vendor Vikram Shaw’s stall after a BJP rally in Jhargram for jhalmuri went viral.

Meanwhile, TMC MP Babul Supriyo recalled his jhalmuri moment with Mamata

Banerjee, which he claimed led to the progress of the East-West Metro project.

“So happy to see our PM at last realising the importance of ‘Jhalmuri’ in Bengal. The chief minister did actually rise above politics and offered me jhalmuri in front of the Victoria Memorial, and I utilised the moment to seek her help in resolving the roadblocks to the ‘East West Metro’ project. She graciously did, and the East-West Metro is running smoothly. The PM couldn’t rise above politics to at least share the fact that I walked into the PMO with an appointment, requesting him to give me the responsibility of EW Metro that was stalled for 3/4 years… But he (PM Modi) had jhalmuri purely for politics…” Supriyo said on X.