“No one offered a bowl of milk”: Bengal minister hits back at Opposition

A Viral Incident Sparks Political Confrontation

A video of West Bengal Municipal Affairs and Urban Development Minister Agnimitra Paul reprimanding a woman who was heating milk for her six-month-old child on a footpath has triggered a political storm in the state. The incident, which occurred on Free School Street (now Mirza Ghalib Street) in Kolkata, has drawn criticism from opposition parties and even from within her own government, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee offering to take responsibility for the family.

Paul, a BJP minister, has responded defiantly, accusing the opposition of politicising the episode and pointing to what she described as the historical failures of Bengal's previous governments. In a video message, she said: “I heard a lot of criticism from the Opposition over the incident of heating milk on the pavement of Free School Street. But nobody took one bowl of milk to this family. Everyone wants to play politics.”

The Incident and the Minister's Account

According to Paul, she was walking along Mirza Ghalib Street, a busy road, on Saturday when she spotted a six-month-old crawling on the pavement, with the mother and grandmother standing at a distance. A large bowl of milk was being heated on a kerosene stove placed on the footpath. Paul said she questioned who would take responsibility if an accident occurred.

“If an accident happened, who would take responsibility? The Chief Minister or you all (Opposition),” Paul asked in a video that has since gone viral. She explained that the pavement was low and the child was lying alone while the adults were at a distance.

Paul elaborated that the family had been asked to return to their residence or move to a shelter. She said the woman told her on camera that she stays in Dhapa, a neighbourhood on the eastern fringes of Kolkata. Paul also alleged that the woman's son, who used to work at Karnani Mansion, was let go for stealing.

The minister acknowledged that she may have appeared harsh, admitting that she might have shouted and should have spoken more softly. But she defended her broader mission to clean up the city's footpaths, citing a meeting with chambers five days prior about a slum rehabilitation programme.

Paul's Political Counter-Attack

Paul used the controversy to launch a broader attack on Bengal's opposition parties, claiming that the Congress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and the Trinamool Congress had all “cheated” the people during their respective tenures. She noted the 28 years of Congress rule, 34 years of CPM rule, and 15 years of Trinamool Congress rule, and said those parties had “taken advantage of people.”

“Those who have taken money and allowed hawkers to sit on the footpath and finished the entire state and city, there is no section where there is no corruption today. We do not need to learn humanity from them at least,” Paul said.

She also dismissed the criticism as politically motivated, asserting that the opposition could not tolerate the BJP's massive victory in the Assembly polls earlier this year. Paul outlined her government's plans, saying the Chief Minister had promised that all streets would be cleaned by October 10 and that drains were being cleaned. She said illegal parking would not be allowed, footpaths would be cleaned, and slums would be relocated under central schemes.

Mamata Banerjee's Response

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who leads the Trinamool Congress, responded strongly on Monday, without directly naming Paul but clearly referring to the incident. Addressing the BJP government, which is in power in West Bengal, Banerjee said: “A mother is boiling milk for her child, she does not have a place to stay. Make arrangements for people to stay.”

“Doesn't it hurt you (BJP) to throw the milk? Remember, a mother's curse is big... I am willing to take responsibility for this family,” Banerjee said, adding that her party colleagues would create living arrangements for the family if they agreed. “I can do this much. My colleagues can do this, the common man can also do this,” she added.

According to a report in THE WEEK, Banerjee has previously spoken out for hawkers and pavement dwellers after the BJP government's demolition and eviction drive to clear pavements of illegal occupants.

A Differing Account from TMC MLA

Kunal Ghosh, a Trinamool Congress MLA, offered a different narrative about the woman involved. Ghosh said he had met the woman and claimed she is Hindu, named Sita, and is now known as Rashida after marrying a Muslim man. He said her husband had left her, one son had died, and one daughter had been abandoned by her husband. Ghosh described her as having no home, living by the roadside with her daughter and child, cleaning streets and scavenging to survive.

Ghosh criticised Paul's approach, saying: “Let the pavements be cleared, but not by wiping away the human face.”

The incident and its aftermath highlight the fraught intersection of urban governance, social welfare, and political rivalry in West Bengal. While Paul defends her actions as necessary for public safety and civic order, her critics, including her own chief minister, argue that the response should reflect compassion and a commitment to providing housing for the city's most vulnerable residents.