Controversy over TMC MP Mahua Moitra’s remarks on Goddess Kali rages on

Mahua Moitra, in a series of tweets, said, ‘Bring it on BJP!  Am a Kali worshipper. I am not afraid of anything.’

The controversy over Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra’s remarks on Goddess Kali and her party condemning the statement continued on Wednesday with the MP saying in a series of tweets that she was not afraid of anything.

Earlier in the day, State BJP unit Mahila Morcha president Tanuja Chakraborty lodged a complaint against the Krishnanagar MP at Kolkata’s Bowbazar Police Station.

“Bring it on BJP!  Am a Kali worshipper. I am not afraid of anything. Not your ignoramuses. Not your goons. Not your police. And most certainly not your trolls. Truth doesn’t need back up forces,” Ms. Moitra tweeted. In another tweet, she added, “ The goddess Bengalis worship is fearless & non-appeasing”. 

Ms. Moitra, while participating in a conclave arranged by a media house in Kolkata on Tuesday had pointed out a “version of the Goddess” to which her party immediately reacted by not only distancing itself from the remark but also condemning it. “Kali to me is meat eating... Alcohol accepting Goddess. To me, that is a version of Kali,” Ms. Moitra said.

 On Wednesday, TMC spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sukhendu Sekar Ray reiterated the party line. He said that the party had emphatically said on Tuesday that the remark by Ms. Moitra was in her personal capacity and the party condemned it.”At the same time the party feels the way Goddess Kali has been depicted in a film poster outside India, smoking a cigarette, that is also deplorable and we condemn it,” the TMC spokesperson said.   

A number of BJP leaders, including party’s State president Sukanta Majumdar and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari, have criticised Ms. Moitra and demanded her arrest. BJP Mahila Morcha supporters also held protests against the TMC MP in the city.