The different shades of Mahua Moitra

The Kali row is not the first time Moitra has become embroiled in controversy due to her comments

Mahua Moitra, the Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament from West Bengal, is a politician who has never minced any words—neither has she ‘rescinded’ any. In fact, the words that form her fiery speeches at times, provide her opponents in regional and national politics equal opportunity to use them to criticise her.

Moitra’s remarks on Goddess Kali, made at a media conclave in Kolkata recently, have given people reasons to file police complaints against her throughout West Bengal. Her own party, too, has distanced itself from her.

Yet, she is fiercely non-apologetic about it. “Bring it on BJP! (I) am a Kali worshipper. I am not afraid of anything. Not your ignoramuses…,” she had tweeted immediately after her comments created a controversy.

But this is not the first time Moitra has become embroiled in controversy due to her comments. In February this year, her mention of the Jain community during her speech in Parliament—as she referred to a campaign concerning banning non-vegetarian food on streets in some municipalities of Gujarat—drew the ire of a section of the community.

Read | Kaali row: Majority Indians want TMC to expel Mahua Moitra

The Bharatiya Janata Party leadership in Gujarat even asked for an apology from Moitra.

In December 2020, a video clip made rounds of social media in which Moitra was heard calling a local journalist part of the “two-paisa press”. The footage was from a supposed internal Trinamool Congress meeting. When the video surfaced, the Kolkata Press Club issued a statement condemning her remarks.

Moitra’s speeches, made in her capacity as a member of Lok Sabha, have certainly helped Trinamool make its presence felt before the national audiences. For a party that aspires to have a national stature, confident and vocal leaders are a prerequisite. It took a while before the party began improving its public and media outreach in West Bengal, something that the BJP – its political rival in the state – has excelled in, for several years now.

Off the political field, Moitra has a different hat to wear. She has the training of a professional economist and financial analyst. Her recreational activities (as stated under her bio profile on Lok Sabha’s website) include running, reading and cooking. On Instagram, @rottweillerhenry - the id dedicated to Henry, her pet dog, reveals an affectionate and personal side of the seemingly-angry politician.

On Twitter, she has 666.8k followers, yet she follows only one account – that of Mamata Banerjee, the Trinamool chief. She recently “unfollowed” all other accounts except that of the West Bengal chief minister. Being a public figure, she is never away from the limelight.

“It doesn’t worry me. But obviously, it’s something I could work on. I am trying to be better at it. I still have a long way to go,” Moitra had told DH in January this year, when she was asked if her short temper could be interpreted as a sign of arrogance.