Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress on Thursday clarified that it will not take any responsibility for the FIRs lodged against him in different parts of the country. Count it.
On behalf of the party, veteran Trinamool Congress leader and three-time party Lok Sabha member Saugata Roy issued a statement saying that the responsibility of handling the FIR rests with Moitra and not the party.
“As far as TMC is concerned, the party does not approve the poster of the movie ‘Kaali’, it is unacceptable to us. We also do not approve of Mahua Moitra’s statements on the matter. This is our party’s official Situation. Our party is secular, it respects all religions. As far as FIR is concerned, it is on Mahua Moitra. He has no right to speak about anything else.”
At the same time, Trinamool Congress general secretary and West Bengal Commerce and Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee told media persons that since the views expressed by Moitra are his personal views, the party will not take any responsibility in the matter.
The development is naturally prompting questions as to whether this is the beginning of the end of Moitra’s association with the Trinamool Congress, as a stray party MP who had taken a stand against the party leadership on several issues in the past unfollowed the Trinamool Congress. The official Twitter handle came soon after he was slammed by the party leadership over his remarks about Goddess Kali.
Though Moitra has remained silent on the question, political analysts believe that unfollowing the party’s official Twitter handle is a kind of veiled protest against her own party on the issue.
BJP has already made a big issue on Moitra’s statement. Apart from registering FIRs in different parts of the country, including West Bengal, BJP workers organized protests in different parts of the state. The Leader of Opposition in West Bengal has also threatened to approach the Calcutta High Court seeking Moitra’s arrest.
However, Moitra refused to budge from his stand and instead challenged the BJP to prove him wrong. “I don’t want to live in an India where the BJP’s patriarchal brahminical view of Hinduism and the rest of us will revolve around the religion. I will defend it till my death. File your FIR, you will have to go to every court in the country.” See you,” she said in her latest Twitter message.