Amrit Dhillon in New Delhi
Mahua Moitra is a misfit in Indian politics. She rejects the notion that a woman must ideally be married, and if she happens to be divorced, single or widowed, should not openly date or be seen to be in a relationship. Nor should she drink or smoke in public or be seen arm in arm with a man.
Moitra, 49, is a divorcee. She drinks wine occasionally, has her nails done once in a while, likes Ferragamo shoes and carries a Louis Vuitton handbag. It gets worse. She went to college in the US and was a banker with JP Morgan Chase in New York and London, so is, ipso facto, westernised. As an opposition MP from West Bengal, she denounces the ruling party and has accused the prime minister, Narendra Modi, of cronyism in allegedly favouring the controversial tycoon Gautam Adani.
When attacked, she hits back twice as hard, usually topped with a dollop of withering sarcasm.
Is it any wonder that she feels she is a target for character assassination, particularly from members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), with its conservative notions about society and women?
Moitra accuses the BJP of portraying her in an unflattering light by circulating photos, taken at a private birthday party in 2020, that show her leaning into a fellow MP with a glass of wine in her hand. She says a jilted ex cropped the photos and gave them to the BJP to circulate on social media.
“I’m not going to make excuses for who I am. I am not going to change who I am to fit the paradigm. Let the paradigm shift with me. When I returned to India to enter politics, I was clear that I wanted to be in public life but by being myself,” she says….
Bharat Bhushan on Mahua Moitra’s misdemeanours
After the truth-shower 