After ‘silence’, TMC makes support for Mahua Moitra clear with party post

Asked about the allegations levelled by the ethics panel, the MP said, “I have always maintained it is the BJP’s propaganda and rumour-mongering at its best. As part of my character assassination, they spread the speculation that my party had deserted me. The TMC is a party with organisational strength, we do not need to shout from the rooftop just because the BJP spread this. So, I am very happy that my party has entrusted me with this responsibility in an election year. I thank my leader and hope that I will rise to her expectations.”

Mahua led the undivided Nadia district unit of the party and then Nadia (Krishnanagar) before being dropped during an organisational reshuffle in August 2021, months after the TMC’s victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections. That December, a video of TMC chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s snub to Mahua at an administrative meeting in Nadia made waves. It came ahead of the civic elections and reports of infighting within the ruling party on Mahua’s home turf. Mahua’s appointment illustrates that the party, plagued by factionalism in Nadia, will look to her to set the house in order in a district where it does not have a senior leader at the helm. Veteran leaders such as Mukul Roy and Kallol Khan are suffering from age-related ailments while Palashipara MLA Manik Bhattacharya is in jail in connection with the school jobs scam.

A day after the Ethics Committee recommended her expulsion from the Lok Sabha, Mahua wrote in a post on X that it would help her double her winning margin in the parliamentary elections in 2024. “Never Waste a Good Crisis they say… this just helped me double my 2024 winning margin,” she wrote.

The TMC’s latest move —  it announced a revised list of district presidents for its 35 organisational districts in Bengal — came days after its second-in-command and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee became the first senior party leader to break the silence on the allegations against Mahua.

“I feel this step by the Central government and what I read of the Ethics Committee report, they have said an investigation should happen against her. If you do not have anything against Mahua and it is the subject of investigation, then why has an expulsion been recommended? I feel Mahua is competent enough to fight her battles on her own. They have been victimising me for four years too; it is their standard practice,” Abhishek told reporters after being questioned by the Enforcement Directorate in Kolkata last Thursday.

Thank you @MamataOfficial and @AITCofficial for appointing me District President of Krishnanagar (Nadia North) .
Will always work with the party for the people of Krishnanagar.

— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) November 13, 2023

An Opposition leader said, “With the Ethics Committee recommending her expulsion from Parliament and a probe against her, the decision signals that the TMC has not deserted her. In the panel, the Opposition MPs, except Preneet Kaur who has an issue to settle with the Congress leadership, backed her and they even came out publicly for her.”

A senior TMC leader in Bengal said, “Initially, we thought the party leadership was in a dilemma about supporting Mahua. But after Abhishek Banerjee’s comment, it became clear that the party is not only supporting Mahua and she has its full trust but also that Mahua is likely to get the ticket again from Krishnanagar for the Lok Sabha elections.”

A senior CPI(M) leader said, “This is their organisation’s internal decision but it should be noted that before the Left and the Congress backed Moitra they were not ready to back her. Now, they have jumped on the bandwagon to show they have always been supporting her.”