Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has accused the Nadia district administration of attempting to remove her from the Krishnanagar Circuit House late on Friday night, hours after she had been allotted a room and served dinner at the government facility.
Moitra, the Lok Sabha member from Krishnanagar, said she entered the circuit house at about 6.15 pm on August 14 and was accommodated in a room before receiving a call from an Additional District Magistrate at 9.47 pm asking her to leave. She refused to vacate and later posted videos and messages describing the demand as an attempt to harass her.
The MP said a crowd subsequently gathered outside the circuit house and raised “Jai Shri Ram” slogans. She alleged that the gathering was intended to intimidate her while the administration continued pressing her to leave the premises. There was no independently verified evidence that the people outside were acting at the administration’s direction.
Moitra also published what she described as an official order issued by the Nadia administration. The document said the circuit house would not be available from the evening of August 14 until further orders because of annual maintenance, upkeep and cleaning arrangements. It exempted reservations confirmed before August 13.
The sequence immediately became the focus of the dispute. Moitra questioned why she had been allotted a prepared room and served dinner if the property was scheduled to close for maintenance that evening. She said the instruction to leave came several hours after she had checked in rather than before her arrival.
No immediate detailed explanation from the Nadia district authorities was available addressing why Moitra had initially been accommodated or whether her booking qualified for the exemption covering reservations confirmed before August 13.
The episode came after Moitra appeared before investigators on Friday in connection with a case involving allegations that remarks made by her had hurt religious sentiments. The Calcutta High Court had earlier provided interim protection against coercive action while requiring her to appear before the investigating officer after Parliament’s Monsoon Session.
Moitra had unsuccessfully approached the Supreme Court seeking permission to appear virtually. Her lawyers raised concerns about the possibility of protesters throwing eggs at her during a physical appearance. The Supreme Court declined to intervene, after which the petition was withdrawn.
Her concerns followed an earlier confrontation in Nadia on July 1, when protesters gathered around a Trinamool Congress office at Kaliganj while Moitra was inside. Eggs and other objects were thrown during the confrontation, and she remained inside for several hours before being able to leave amid heightened security.
Friday night’s confrontation therefore unfolded against an already tense political backdrop in Nadia. Moitra has repeatedly accused political opponents of using demonstrations and physical obstruction to restrict her movement. Her opponents have rejected allegations that legitimate protests amount to organised intimidation.
Moitra tagged Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla in one of her posts and stressed that she remained the elected representative of Krishnanagar. She argued that a circuit house at the district headquarters was an official facility that lawmakers were entitled to use while carrying out public duties.
She was returned to the Lok Sabha from Krishnanagar in the 2024 general election, winning by more than 56,000 votes. The constituency comprises seven Assembly segments in Nadia district and has remained central to her political career.
The confrontation also carries wider political significance because control of West Bengal has shifted after this year’s Assembly election, intensifying friction between Trinamool Congress leaders and the new political establishment. Moitra has emerged as one of the party’s most confrontational voices during that transition.
Video shared by the MP showed activity outside the circuit house while she remained inside. Her posts drew support from Opposition politicians, some of whom questioned the propriety and safety implications of asking a woman MP to leave government accommodation late at night.
(IPA Service)
