West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday hit out at senior BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya's "poha" remark and demanded to know if the BJP leaders "ate air while growing up".
Indirectly referring to Vijayvargiya, Mamata asked, "Did you eat air while growing up? Will you (BJP) decide who will eat what or which religion they will follow? Will you decide who will eat 'chire' or 'poha'?"
She was addressing a youth workshop of All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) at Netaji Indoor stadium here.
She added, "I have never heard that a person can be recognised with their dresses and food habits. This can't be tolerated."
Mamata, further said, "We have to explain to people who are being misguided by the BJP that we are not bonded labours, but citizens of this country."
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya has sparked a controversy after he said the eating habits of some construction workers at his house made him suspicious of their nationality.
The BJp leader had said that he noticed some of the workers eating poha (flattened rice) only, which made him suspect that they could be Bangladeshis.
"There was some construction work going on at my house so I noticed that some workers were eating only 'poha' (flattened rice). After speaking to them I realised they could not speak Hindi. I was later told that they are Bengali and when I asked them from which districts they belong to, they could not answer me," Vijayvargiya said.
( With inputs from ANI )