4 min read Apr 24, 2026 03:35 PM IST First published on: Apr 24, 2026 at 03:35 PM IST Stardom remains elusive, then comes unannounced. The humble jhalmuri, sold at street corners in West Bengal, had a mundane existence till a high-voltage election in the eastern state catapulted it into the limelight. It happened on April 19. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country’s top executive, walked into a nondescript jhalmuri stall in Bengal’s Jhargram for a snack break. He shared a video of his interaction with Bikram Shaw, the shop’s owner, on X. Jhalmuri’s moment had come. It was now a talking point, not in a debate over street food, but a political war of words. In an election in which the ruling Trinamool Congress and the challenger BJP have given no quarter, how could jhalmuri disappear from the discourse without Mamata Banerjee weighing in? The firebrand leader mocked the Prime Minister’s snack break, claiming it was a scripted drama.…