- Thursday, April 18, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
SHE is perhaps the fiercest critic of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi in the country’s politics at the moment. Mamata Banerjee, the firebrand chief minister of the eastern Indian state of West Bengal, has not minced words when it comes to opposing Modi, currently the most popular politician in the country. The recent elections in Bengal displayed the extent of animosity that prevails between the parties of the two leaders.
Yet, when it comes to the seasonal fruit of mango, Banerjee doesn’t hesitate to keep the ‘sweet fruit diplomacy’ going. Despite the frequent frictions between her government in Kolkata and that of Modi in New Delhi, the Trinamool Congress chief has reportedly sent mangoes of some of the best variants from her state to the prime minister as well as other high-profile politicians based in the national capital.
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Banerjee sends mangoes to other top leaders
The Times of India on Thursday (1) reported that Banerjee, a former central minister, sent mangoes of some of Bengal’s pick varieties like Himsagar and Lakshmanbhog to Modi last week. Even Indian president Ram Nath Kovind, vice president Venkaiah Naidu, central home minister Amit Shah, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal were among her other recipients.
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This is a tradition that Banerjee has started after she took over as the chief minister for the first time in 2011. She recently took oath as the chief minister for the third time by defeating Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
In May last year, Modi had said in an interview with actor Akshay Kumar that Banerjee, fondly called ‘Didi’ (elder sister), sends him ‘kurtas’ (a kind of Indian upper wear for males) and sweets from Bengal every year.
Food and gift diplomacy is something that also marks Banerjee’s relations with Sheikh Hasina, the prime minister of Bangladesh with which Bengal shares a border.
