Mamata Banerjee on Monday mocked Narendra Modi over his contentious remark of April 12, in which he criticised some in the national Opposition for being non-vegetarians and said they displayed a “Mughal-esque” mindset.

Inviting Modi to taste food cooked by her, Mamata attacked attempts by the saffron ecosystem to rob India of its pluralist eating ethos.

“Now, (Modi is) going about saying ‘Don’t eat fish! Kyun machhli khata hai (Why do they have fish)?’ Do not have meat, eggs… what will people eat, mushrooms? Tell him to arrange for it. What else, barley?” asked the Trinamool Congress chief at an election rally in Barrackpore to loud cheers and laughter from thousands in the audience.

On April 12, at an Udhampur rally in Jammu and Kashmir, the Prime Minister referred to a video of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and RJD patriarch Lalu Yadav cooking mutton in September last year and said: “Congress and others in the INDI alliance are not concerned with the feelings of most of the country….”

Referring anonymously to Lalu’s son, Tejashwi Yadav, Modi had said that uploading a video of him eating fish during Chaitra Navratri this summer displayed the same mindset.

“The law does not bar anyone from eating anything, nor does Modi,” he had added, before going on to make communally inflammatory — and historically questionable — statements on Mughals.

“They (Opposition leaders) do this (eating non-vegetarian food) deliberately to attack the nation’s beliefs so that large parts of the country… feel discomfort,” Modi had added. “They have gone beyond appeasement, and are now providing evidence of their Mughal-esque thought processes.”

Mamata, the chief minister of Bengal, where the vast majority of people are non-vegetarian and fish-loving, irrespective of religion, said people must be free to eat what they like.

“This nation belongs to us all… unity in diversity,” she said.

“Somebody might love dhokla, somebody else, dosa. Somebody loves idli, somebody else, porota. Somebody loves ruti, somebody else, bhaat. Somebody loves biryani, somebody else, chingri-potol. Somebody loves jhingey-chingri, somebody else, chingri-malaikari,” added Mamata to thunderous applause. “Modibabu, why
not taste some and see for yourself what it tastes like? Would you like some? I will make some for you. I promise you, I will cook for you myself…. Aap mujhey khaney ko bolo, main pyar se kha lungi (Ask me to eat, and I will eat with love). I don’t see (division based on) caste, creed, community. I believe the biggest honour of the people is justice… nothing else.”