There was a time when Trinamool Congress was a political party. At the NDA’s 12th anniversary celebrations, it appeared to have been reinvented as a snack.
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his allies tucked into bowls of jhalmuri, Home Minister Amit Shah immediately described the Bengali delicacy as tangy, masaledar, and crunchy. Political wags instantly noticed that the initials spelled TMC.
Poor Mamata Banerjee. For years, she has fought the Bharatiya Janata Party with slogans, street protests, dharnas, poetry, paintings and periodic warnings about the death of democracy.
Now her party’s acronym has found a second life in a paper cone. Politics can be cruel. Sometimes it is crunchy.
From street food to political food
The symbolism was difficult to miss. Here was Modi presiding over a coalition celebrating 12 years in power while extending his record as India’s longest-serving elected prime minister.
Around him sat NDA allies happily sharing a snack whose newly discovered ingredients happened to spell the name of one of the BJP’s most persistent adversaries.
One can only imagine the mood in Kolkata. The party leadership is discussing strategy. The spokespersons are drafting rebuttals. The social media warriors are preparing hashtags.
Meanwhile, in Delhi, somebody has converted TMC into a roadside delicacy seasoned with mustard oil and green chillies. That is not a political setback. That is branding malpractice.
The ideal coalition partner
To be fair, Jhalmuri possesses qualities that every ruling coalition would admire. It is light, it is affordable, and iIt is easy to consume.
Unlike opposition parties, it does not ask uncomfortable questions. Unlike allies, it does not bargain for ministerial portfolios. Unlike television panellists, it does not predict the government’s collapse every fortnight. It simply sits quietly in a paper cone and disappears. No wonder it was the star attraction.
A taste of irony
The BJP has spent years trying to chip away at Trinamool’s dominance in West Bengal. At Bharat Mandapam, it finally managed to consume TMC in public – albeit in a form that required neither elections nor defections.
For Mamata Banerjee, there is still consolation. The original TMC remains firmly under her control.
But politics has a wicked sense of humour. An acronym that once inspired fear among opponents is now being used to describe a bowl of puffed rice.
And if Amit Shah’s recipe catches on, TMC may become the first political party in Bharath whose popularity is measured not in seats and votes, but in servings and Scoville units.
