MAHUA Moitra, the firebrand Trinamool Congress leader, has again ignited controversy with the alleged use of unparliamentary language for Bharatiya Janata Party MP Ramesh Bhiduri during the Budget Session of the Parliament. On Tuesday, when Telugu Desam Party MP Ram Mohan was speaking in the Parliament, Moitra rose from her seat and allegedly shouted a cuss directed at Bhiduri. Moitra's language was instantly flagged by BJP members present at the spot who demanded her apology.
However, the defiant TMC leader defended her remarks and said that she called an apple an apple and not an orange. "Whatever I said was not on record and all I can say is I will call an apple an apple and not an orange. I will call a spade a spade. If they take me to the privileges committee, I will put my side of the story," Mahua Moitra said.
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This is not the first time that Moitra has landed in trouble over her comments. Mahua, who has cultivated a strong following among the progressive sections of Indian society with her fiery brand of liberal politics, has also been on the receiving end of rebuke from her party boss several times.
COMMENTS ON GODDESS KALI
In July 2022, Mahua Moitra described Goddess Kali as “a meat-eating, alcohol drinking goddess”. The BJP had latched onto her comments and raised a hell-storm targeting her and her party. When criticisms from across the nation started pouring in, TMC had to distance itself from Mahua’s comments. TMC had officially condemned Moitra’s comments and said that the Party does not share her opinion. Animal sacrifice is a common practice in West Bengal during Kali worship and several devotees offer alcohol to the Goddess in Tarapith Temple.
COMMENTS ON JOURNALISTS
In 2020, Moitra’s comments on journalists irked professionals in the media industry and it even led to a section of Bengal’s media boycotting her. She had described a journalist as part of the “two paisa press” when the person had barged into a party meeting that she had organised in Nadia district.
Following her comments, the Press Club of Kolkata issued a stern statement and demanded an apology. “In a democratic set up, the importance of journalism and the respect it commands is known to all. Journalists braving adverse situations as part of their professional struggle and social responsibility are respected by globally," Kolkata Press Club had said.
COMMENTS ON FORMER CJI RANJAN GOGOI
The former Chief Justice of India, who was later appointed to Rajya Sabha by the Centre, had been accused by a junior Supreme Court assistant of sexually assaulting her. While speaking on the matter in Lok Sabha, Mahua Moitra again got embroiled in a controversy. She was pointing out discrepancies in the trial of the case of sexual assault.
"The sacred cow that was the judiciary is no longer sacred. It stopped being sacred the day a sitting chief justice of this country was accused of sexual harassment, presided over his own trial, cleared himself and then proceeded to accept a nomination to the Upper House within three months of retirement, complete with Z-plus security cover," she had said, in February 2021.
COMMENTS ON JAIN COMMUNITY
Speaking on an individual’s right to choose, Mahua dragged the Jain community into her speech that she delivered in Lok Sabha in February 2020. "So you fear an India where a Jain boy can hide from home and enjoy a ‘kathi kabab’ on a street cart in Ahmedabad," she had said. Reacting to her comments former BJP MP Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, “a conspiracy has been done under a dangerous mindset to mislead the world over that community (Jains)”.