Listen to this article:

Kolkata: “Has jhalmuri reached here as well?”

Halfway across the world, in the Netherlands, Prime Minister Narendra Modi joked before a cheering diaspora audience, invoking the Bharatiya Janata Party’s historic win in the May 2026 West Bengal assembly elections and turning the state’s beloved street food into a symbol of his party’s political conquest. 

But back on the oil-stained asphalt of the Sealdah South railway station, jhalmuri seller Pijush Halder was not laughing. In the intervening night of May 16 and 17, Indian Railways, through the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and Government Railway Police (GRP), removed hawkers whom officials described as “encroachers” on railway land under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.

Halder’s vending cart on platform number 17 is now splintered wood and twisted metal. For 24 years, that cart had fed his family of six, including two school-going children.

For Halder, the demolition also comes as a betrayal for another reason.

Sealdah station area in the aftermath of the demolitions. Photo: Pijush Halder.

Speaking to The Wire, Halder said, “Since 2017, I spent money from my own pocket to work for the party [BJP]. I did not fear bombs or bullets. After helping bring this government to power, I now realise I made a mistake. I have understood that this government is not sympathetic to the poor. When hunger strikes, the truth comes out. That is what has happened. Thank you, BJP government, for kicking me in the stomach.”

Bengal is now seeing a massive structural shift. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari took oath on May 9, 2026, and almost overnight, the state’s long-standing urban system of negotiated informality, the unspoken truce between the working poor and the authorities, was dismantled in favour of a centralised model of aggressive executive enforcement. The noise of the bulldozer has now emerged as the signature soundtrack of the new administration.

On May 18, Halder, accompanied by the Left-affiliated Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) leader Gargi Chatterjee, met the Divisional Railway Manager of Eastern Railway. Chatterjee said over one lakh hawkers in Bengal were facing eviction as part of station redevelopment drives.

“This is a question of livelihood. They need rehabilitation,” Chatterjee said. “We will continue our movement until they get adequate compensation and rehabilitation.”

Sealdah is among the busiest railway stations in the country, with trains running almost continuously through its Main and South sections. On weekdays, nearly 18 lakh passengers use the station. But after the eviction drive, the area adjoining the station, main road and Metro station have looked unusually empty.

‘I cannot afford to go back’

For years, vendors had sold fruits, vegetables, shoes, condiments, lemon water, tea, biscuits, boiled eggs and toast to daily commuters. On May 18, as much as 90% of their presence was gone.

A fruit seller from Bihar’s Sasaram, who said he had sold fruits there for more than 25 years, had made his way to the station but did not appear keen to talk. “I don’t know what to do,” he said. “See, I have so many fresh fruits, but I don’t know how to attract customers anymore.”

Also read: Bulldozers in the Modi Decade: A Symbol of Quick ‘Justice’ and Collective Punishment

Asked whether he would go to court, he said that he was yet undecided. Another........

© The Wire