West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 | From 'Churumuri' to ‘Jhalmuri’: BJP Karnataka celebrates victory

Bengaluru: While Karnataka is familiar with ‘Churumuri’ made of puffed rice, the BJP’s victory in West Bengal made its leaders in the southern state savour ‘Jhalmuri’ on Monday.

‘Jhalmuri’, the Bengali snack, is also made of puffed rice and is quite popular among cross section of people in the eastern state.

Following the victory, the BJP leaders on Monday set up a table to serve ‘Jhalmuri’, the Bengali version of Karnataka’s ‘Churumuri’, outside the party office Jagannath Bhavan.

The ‘Jhalmuri’ indeed had the ‘Churumuri’ flavor.

According to party sources, the Bengali community in Bengaluru thronged the BJP office here with loads of Bengali sweets such as Rasgulla, Sandesh, Ras Malai and so on.

On the suggestion of Bengali community, the party leaders decided to set up ‘Jhalmuri’ table to serve to the visitors.

‘Jhalmuri’ had become a talking point in the elections in West Bengal, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself walked to a vendor selling the snack in the middle of the electioneering and savoured it.

“The Bengali community here was especially happy with the election results. They wanted to join the celebration and hence, they came with sweets and later on their suggestion the ‘Jhalmuri’ was served to every passerby in Malleswaram,” a party leader told PTI.

According to him, the party served Jhaal-muri in various parts of the state.

“We offered people Jhalmuri and Bengali sweets in Mangaluru, Hubballi, Belagavi, Mysuru, Tumakuru and various other places,” he said.

The BJP leaders said the election results have shown public faith in Modi’s leadership.

The party was on the way to form government in Assam and West Bengal. In Puducherry, the NDA is set to come to power.

Speaking to reporters, the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly R Ashoka said the election results in West Bengal have dealt a blow to the TMC government.

He alleged that under the present rule, the state had become a gateway for terrorists and illegal migrants from Bangladesh, who were provided with Aadhaar and other necessary documents to settle in the country.

“The election results have proved today that only Narendra Modi is needed for the country’s security,” Ashoka said.

Though elections were taking place in five states, the focus was entirely on West Bengal.

"The eastern state had drawn all the attention for its maladministration because the ED, CBI, Income Tax, Governor and even the judiciary were targeted brazenly," he alleged.

“For nearly 15 years, the Mamata Banerjee government had not allowed the Central forces to fence the border with Bangladesh. It is very clear from the election that people have supported Narendra Modi government at the Centre,” he added.

He added that the party intends to rid India of Congress.

Asked whether the BJP benefited from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Ashoka said there was no question of party benefiting from the SIR.

The exercise was only to drive away illegal migrants from the country. Its purpose was to flush out illegal migrants who were getting patronage from the Congress, Ashoka said.

“Real voters will vote for the national security whereas intruders will back anti-national organisations,” he opined.