Trinamool Congress MPs Kalyan Banerjee and Mahua Moitra are once again locked in a bitter feud barely three months after their last public confrontation. This time, it is over Banerjee’s controversial remarks in the aftermath of the Kolkata law college gangrape case.
The war of words escalated as Banerjee, instead of addressing the criticism of his survivor-shaming comments, launched a personal attack on Moitra. Referring to her marriage with former BJD MP Pinaki Misra, he alleged that Moitra had disrupted a long-standing family.
“Mahua has come back to India after her honeymoon and started fighting with me! She accuses me of being anti-woman, what is she? She has broken up a 40-year marriage and married a guy who is 65 years old. Did she not hurt the lady?” Banerjee said.
Doubling down, he added, “An MP who was expelled from parliament for breach of ethics is preaching me! She is the most anti-woman. She only knows how to secure her future and how to make money.”
Kolkata Rape Survivor-Shaming Sparks Outrage
The clash began after Banerjee made statements perceived as blaming the rape survivor, saying, “Those who are roaming around with such people should understand whom they are accompanying.” His comments drew sharp backlash for implying moral responsibility on the part of the victim.
Moitra responded by criticising her own party’s silence. Tagging the official TMC statement on social media, she wrote,
“Misogyny in India cuts across party lines. What differentiates @AITCofficial is that we condemn these disgusting comments no matter who makes them.”
This isn’t the first time the two MPs have publicly clashed. On April 4, 2025, a heated altercation erupted at the Election Commission office in Delhi, where Moitra allegedly asked security officials to “arrest” Banerjee after a dispute over her name being removed from a party memorandum.
That exchange later came into the public domain after a leaked WhatsApp chat between Banerjee and fellow MP Kirti Azad surfaced, in which Banerjee allegedly referred to Moitra as a “versatile international lady.”
As the party attempts damage control, it has distanced itself from Banerjee’s comments, stating they were made in a personal capacity. However, the deepening rift between two of TMC’s most high-profile figures continues to play out in the public eye, adding to the party’s internal challenges.
