PM Modi walks into MP canteen, has a veg thali

Aditi Tandon

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 2

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today created a flutter in Parliament House when he walked into the MPs’ canteen and ordered a vegetarian 'thali' for himself.

Accompanied by four SPG guards, Modi became the first Prime Minister to visit the MPs’ canteen as a customer. He had soup, some green salad, a vegetarian meal, and some fruits to wrap up his lunch. Accompanying him were two MPs from Gujarat and minister Piyush Goyal.

PM’s canteen visiting act may have attracted eyeballs and inspired Parliament staff to queue up outside the location to see him but the opposition Congress was not unimpressed.

“We don’t mind the PM having subsidised food at MPs’ canteen but it would have been nice if he had also thought of the financial burden his government has put on the middle class by raising the prices of petrol and diesel twice since February 16. Not just that, the government is earning Rs 85,000 crore annually from enhanced excise and customs duty on fuel while housewives are bearing the brunt of rising fuel prices,” Randeep Surjewala, Congress spokesperson, said.

That apart, the PM’s day out at the canteen caused tremendous amount of excitement among the kitchen and supervisory staff at the place. Everyone was later heard referring to the signed note the PM left in the canteen register. “Annadaata Sukhi Bhavo, (food provider, be happy)” it read.

Madhu Sheel Kalra, the MP canteen supervisor for the past 18 years, told The Tribune, “We were shocked and surprised to see the PM in the canteen. He walked in from the side door, took his seat and ordered food like a common man. Later, he paid Rs 29 for the meal.”

Kalra confirmed that Modi was the first PM to come to the canteen as a customer. “Earlier PMs would come sometimes when they would host a formal lunch at the start or end of the session. That practice also stopped a long time back. Today, the PM came for the first time as a customer,” she said.

While she was talking, Rama Kant, the 65-year-old waiter who served Modi and his colleagues today, was busy posing for TV cameras. “It was a pleasure to serve the PM. I wish I could have told him something I have wanted to tell leaders all my life. Waiters in the Parliament service staff retire on the same position they join. They have no avenues for growth,” Rama Kant said.