West Bengal is emerging as the center of a sharpening debate over food politics in the upcoming elections. As the leaders of an informal political coalition against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sat down for lunch after a joint campaign event in January, they were greeted by their host, Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of the state of West Bengal. Banerjee, who is fast emerging as a possible prime ministerial candidate to oppose Modi, served the guests herself from a menu that included an array of delicacies, including fried fish, chicken tikka — and a big serving of politics. The publicly released images of Banerjee serving other leaders helped underscore the persona of humility that she has tried to cultivate — though critics accuse her of being just as authoritarian as those she opposes. But the photos also emphasized a diet that Banerjee and her regional party, the Trinamool Congress (TMC), claim they’re trying to protect from the Hindu nationalist BJP, which they accuse of wanting to impose vegetarian food habits. As India votes in national elections over the next two months, the politics of food is emerging as an unstated subject on the ballot. And nowhere are those battle lines drawn sharper than in West Bengal, a state with a population larger than that of Germany whose choice could portend the direction of this debate nationally. | 