A mother, her baby's milk and pavement: Eviction drive opens new Mamata-BJP battle

A pavement eviction drive on Kolkata's Park Street involving minister Agnimitra Paul sparked controversy after a video showed her confronting a woman heating milk for her baby. The episode drew criticism, with Paul later saying she could have handled it differently. Mamata Banerjee offered shelter and support, triggering a political war with the BJP.A baby's milk, a pavement eviction and a political storm in KolkataA chic pavement on Kolkata's elite Park Street, home to iconic restaurants, has for decades been home to families settled by the roadside. Generation after generation has been born there, grown up and grown old, going about their daily chores on the pavement.The adjacent pavements tell a similar story of stark contrast -- the shine and glitter of high-end restaurants on one side, and families growing up amid dirt and dust on the other.These families remained almost invisible to the many faces passing them every day, until their plight shot to prominence during West Bengal minister Agnimitra Paul's eviction drive on a Saturday morning.Surrounded by police, municipal officials and media personnel with cameras, Urban Development and Municipal Affairs Minister Agnimitra Paul confronted a woman who said she was heating milk for her baby on a stove by the roadside. "How are you heating up milk for your baby in the middle of Park Street?" she asked angrily. She then pointed to a wooden rack beside a shop, where clothes and ration were kept and hung out to dry."What's all this? Is this all new development?" she asked, before throwing the belongings off the rack. "Is this a place to set up a family?" she said. Turning to the woman, Paul asked, "Who has given you the right to set up a family over here?"As the woman began collecting her belongings to leave, Paul asked, "If your family is in Kolkata, why are you staying on the streets?" A crowd of cameras and microphones followed the woman as she walked away.Nearby, a baby could be seen crawling on the pavement, while another woman hurried over to pick up the child amid the sudden commotion.Soon after the video went viral, the issue took a political turn. The manner in which Paul confronted the woman drew widespread criticism, with many questioning whether one mother was justified in taking away the milk another mother was preparing for her child on the streets.The drive to clear the pavements may have been well-intentioned, but its optics appeared to backfire. Paul eventually acknowledged that she could have handled the situation differently."I may have shouted. Perhaps, I should have spoken a little more softly and explained the matter better," Paul said in a video message."No child's milk was taken away. I only asked them to move away. The child was crawling on a busy road. This is not limited to that particular place; such scenes are witnessed in many parts of Kolkata. An accident could happen at any moment. Who would take responsibility for that?" Paul added.The woman, for her part, told local media that if she had a place to live, she would not be staying on the streets. She claimed that her husband had left her and her child to fend for themselves, and that she had been living there for 50 years.Soon, the Trinamool Congress MLA Kunal Ghosh arrived to meet the woman and her child and then Mamata Banerjee on Monday doing a live session on her Facebook page offered to arrange a shelter for the family at the home of one of her workers, provide food and take responsibility for the child's education in future.Hitting back at Banerjee, Adhikari, while addressing a press conference at state secretariat, Nabanna said, "Why doesn't she take them into her own home and keep them there?""In Halisahar, she (Banerjee) herself was not allowed to enter the home of her own party worker. The family of the deceased spoke to me. They accepted financial assistance. I offered them a job, and they also provided the necessary documents," he said.Adhikari was referring to his visit to the family of a TMC worker, who died in police custody, in Halisahar in North 24 Parganas district earlier this month.Banerjee, too, visited the bereaved family and their visits later became a point of political contention, with both sides highlighting their respective relief and support efforts."Even her own party workers do not trust her. What is the point of making such statements?" Adhikari added on Monday.In a sharp jibe at the TMC supremo, Adhikari said, "She has grown quite old now and should talk less."On Tuesday, Adhikari met the woman, patted the baby and said, "She says she has faith in the CM and the BJP. Mamata Banerjee has been sending people to her, trying to bribe her to speak against the BJP."What began as a routine pavement-clearing drive soon became a political flashpoint, putting the spotlight not just on encroachment but also on the lives of those who have made the city's pavements their homes. The episode has since turned into a contest of competing claims, with both sides seeking to frame the woman's plight through their own political lens.- EndsInputs from PTIPublished By: Sayan GangulyPublished On: Aug 25, 2026 17:15 IST