TMC MP Mahua Moitra faces flak for alleged tweet mess-up

The BJP has hit out at Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra for her tweet, which allegedly portrays her as agreeing with a tweet by a foreign national terming Diwali celebrations and bursting of fire crackers overseas as ‘Diwali garbage’, also terming Indians as ‘brain dead’ and ‘shithole’. 

The BJP in their tweet said, “This is the same Mahua Moitra who believes that Bangladesh is better than India and has compromised national security in exchange for luxury handbags. MPs from the Trinamool party consider Kashmir an inseparable part of India, as ‘Azad Kashmir’, finds ‘tourists’ in terrorists.”

The BJP also weaved in the issue surrounding a viral clip of the West Bengal police shoving a desecrated idol of Goddess Kali on October 22, apart from hitting out at the TMC for atrocities against women and children bursting firecrackers during Diwali. 

“In several places, Kali temples have been attacked simply because Hindus were performing Kali Puja in West Bengal.” The BJP went on to bring in Moitra once again by saying, “This is the same Mahua Moitra who once described Goddess Kali as a ‘goddess of meat and liquor’.”

The TMC Krishnanagar MP was quick to respond to allegations, in an attempt to calm the storm brewing. “Just clarifying, my Twitter feed was showing a lot of videos, and I meant to say ‘I agree’ to a video just below the racist one by some Nate. My mistake. Travelling [and] didn’t check till now,” posted Moitra, further clarifying it as a genuine mistake. “Sorry, trolls,” the MP added.

The BJP, however, does not buy this claim, while pointing to a tweet by author Abhijit Iyer Mitra, who is also a critic and observer. “I tested the theory! To see if it is possible to post mistakenly under the wrong tweet. Nope, the tweet text shows up ALWAYS.” Mitra stated in his post on X, formerly Twitter.

Another tweet also criticises Moitra’s claim. “Mahua Moitra is saying that she was replying to some other tweet, but just after her reply, she quoted a video on the same topic. She is lying!”

Moitra was expelled from the Lok Sabha on an Ethics Committee report related to a video where she was seen carrying a luxury handbag in Parliament during a debate by TMC on price rise and inflation. 

A year later, controversy surrounding Moitra’s luxury handbags resurfaced over cash-for-query allegations, leading to her involvement and expulsion. Moitra was re-elected in April 2024 from her constituency.