TMC claims PM's jhalmuri break blocked Hemant Soren's chopper landing in Bengal
After addressing an election rally in West Bengal's Jhargram, PM Modi paused to savour a cone of jhalmuri at a roadside stall.
A brief roadside stop by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in West Bengal's Jhargram, where he was seen eating jhalmuri during his election campaign, has triggered a fresh political controversy after the Trinamool Congress alleged that Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and his wife Kalpana Soren were denied permission to land their helicopter in the area.
The Mamata Banerjee-led party also alleged that both Hemant Soren and his wife were forced to return to Ranchi as the Prime Minister extended his schedule in Jhargram for the impromptu food stop.
"Because the Pradhan Sevak decided to extend his stay in Jhargram to eat Jhalmuri, Jharkhand Chief Minister Shri Hemant Soren and his wife and MLA Smt. Kalpana Soren were denied permission to fly their chopper into Jhargram while Modi was present," Trinamool Congress wrote on its official X handle.
According to the party, the Soren couple were scheduled to land in Jhargam on Sunday afternoon to attend Trinamool public meetings in Dantan and Keshiyari, but the Prime Minister's "photo-ops" took precedence over their democratic rights.
"Narendra Modi's Adivasi-Birodhi mindset has been exposed for all to see. Two democratically elected leaders. Grounded. Kept waiting for hours. And ultimately forced to return to Ranchi without completing their scheduled programme, all because a Prime Minister's extended snack break and photo-ops took precedence over their democratic rights and constitutional standing," it said.
The alleged sequence of events came against the backdrop of a high-voltage election campaign in West Bengal, where political messaging and optics remain sharply contested between the BJP and the ruling Trinamool Congress.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Modi, after addressing a rally in Jhargram stopped at College Mor on his way to the helipad. There, he stepped out of his convoy and was seen eating jhalmuri at a roadside stall, surrounded by supporters.
Locals, including women and children, gathered around as slogans such as "Jai Shri Ram", "Narendra Modi zindabad", and "Bharat Mata ki jai" were raised.
Sharing images on social media platform X, PM Modi wrote, “In between four rallies across West Bengal on a packed Sunday, had some delicious jhalmuri in Jhargram,” highlighting the stop as part of a hectic campaign schedule.
West Bengal is heading into a tightly contested Assembly election spread across two phases on April 23 and April 29, with campaigning intensifying across key regions.