Mahua Moitra is one of the fiercest speakers in the Indian Parliament. The Trinamool Congress MP has been in the news during every Lok sabha session for her strong speeches against the Modi regime. As a result of the same, Moitra has gotten into several controversies, here is a list of a few of them.
Goddess Kali Controversy
Credits – The Citizen
A poster of a film on the goddess Kaali was released by the director, Leena Manimekalai. The poster showed the goddess smoking and it erupted controversy on social media. The controversy gained pace and even reached the parliament. When a question regarding the same was asked in the lower house of the Indian parliament. Moitra stated that Goddess Kaali was a “meat-eating and alcohol-drinking” goddess.
“If you go to Bhutan or Sikkim, for example, when they do puja, they give whisky to their god. Now, if you go to Uttar Pradesh and say that you give whisky to your god as prasad, they will say that is blasphemous… For me, Goddess Kali is a meat-eating and alcohol-accepting goddess. And if you go to Tarapith (a major Shakti Peeth in West Bengal’s Birbhum district), you will see sadhus smoking. That is the version of Kali people worship (there). I, within Hinduism, being a Kali worshipper, have the right to imagine Kali in that way; that is my freedom,” she added.
Her party later put out a statement condemning their MP’s claim. “The comments made by @MahuaMoitra at the #IndiaTodayConclaveEast2022 and her views expressed on Goddess Kali have been made in her personal capacity and are NOT ENDORSED BY THE PARTY in ANY MANNER OR FORM. All India Trinamool Congress strongly condemns such comments,” the party said in a Twitter post.
Louis Vuitton Controversy
Earlier in 2022, the Indian parliament was discussing the issue of a price rise. At the same time, cameras caught Mahua Moitra ‘hiding’ her Louis Vuitton bag. Shehzad Poonawalla from the Bharatiya Janata Party slammed the TMC leader and called her ‘Marie Antionette’.
A Twitter user wrote on the same issue, and asked “Where are you getting money to file petitions in Supreme Court? This is what agencies should investigate,”. Moitra was at her sarcastic best while replying, as she said “Modiji sent me some of the proceeds after auctioning his Rs. 10 lakh suit. I bought a handbag and used the rest to pay lawyer fees.”
Ranjan Gogoi Controversy
Ranjan Gogoi, the former Chief Justice of India was accused of sexual misconduct. While talking about the same issue, Moitra said “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.”
The MPs in the house vehemently opposed her remarks, as the lower house witnessed an uproar.
Remarks on the Jain community
Photo Credits – PTI
In one of her speeches in the Lok Sabha, Moitra claimed that Jains eat non-veg food secretly. “So you fear an India where a Jain boy can hide from home and enjoy a ‘Kathi kabab’ on a street cart in Ahmedabad.”
Her comments were criticised, and it also led to huge protests against the TMC leader. Several political parties asked for an apology from Moitra.
“A conspiracy has been done under a dangerous mindset to mislead the world over the community,” said BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.
