Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra, known for her fiery speeches and savage swipes at rivals, has been trending over a clip in which she does not say a word. In the video that is being widely circulated, her party boss Mamata Banerjee appears to sternly address her at a meeting on Thursday.
According to reports, the Bengal Chief Minister was upset about infighting ahead of civic polls and used what was an administrative review meeting at Krishnanagar in Nadia district to send out a message.
Mahua Moitra, the Lok Sabha MP from Krishnanagar, was on stage when the Chief Minister turned to her.
“Mahua, let me give a clear message here. I don’t need to see who is against whom. If someone does not like a person, he or she puts up some news on YouTube or in newspapers. This kind of politics can go for one day but not forever. And for only one person to be in the same place forever, that is also not right,” Mamata Banerjee says in the video.
“When there is an election, the party will decide who will contest and who won’t. There should be no difference of opinion. I am telling you, everyone should work together,” she adds.
The clip has been widely shared on social media; Mahua Moitra has been among the top trends since yesterday. While some have taken swipes at Mahua Moitra over what appears to be a public reprimand, others have come out in her support, accusing Mamata Banerjee of “humiliating” one of her most articulate and prominent party leaders.
In the same video, Mamata Banerjee also questions another leader about videos posted on YouTube of a protest by a rival faction that accuses him of corruption in a housing scheme.
“I know who is behind this game. It was set up and planted in the media. I have cross-checked it through the CID (Criminal Investigation Department),” she says.
Mahua Moitra was in August removed as the Trinamool district chief of Nadia. In the Bengal election earlier this year, the party’s performance in Nadia was not as spectacular as in the rest of the state. Of 17 seats in the district, nine were won by the BJP.
