Mamata slams Vijayvargiya over his 'poha' remark

After BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya made the bizarre connection between food and nationality and drew flak for it, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday questioned the right of the saffron party leaders to comment on the eating habits of people or their attire.

Vijayvargiya, who is BJP's Bengal minder, had recently said at a seminar in Indore that he suspected there were Bangladeshis among the construction labourers at his house as they were eating poha (flattened rice).

He also said the "strange" eating habits of the workers aroused his suspicion about their nationality.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had told a poll rally in Jharkhand last year that those indulging in arson over the citizenship legislation could be identified by their clothes.

Banerjee, who was addressing a workshop of the Trinamool Congress Chhatra Parishad (students' wing), said, "Who gave them (BJP) the right to make such remarks? Can you determine someone's nationality just by seeing him eat poha? Will you dictate what someone should eat? Will you be able to determinbe someone's nationality based on the clothes he or she is wearing?"
Charging the BJP of "doublespeak" and "hypocrisy", Banerjee said, "Some people want only one colour to stay ... But our country is a beautiful mosaic of all colours."