‘Till last month these guys were begging to meet Abhishek’: Mahua Moitra slams TMC rebels

As the Trinamool Congress's (TMC) internal chaos continues to dominate headlines and questions are being raised frequently about its survival, Mahua Moitra, one of its Lok Sabha MPs, has called the current situation something orchestrated by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "It is not a rebellion but an operation by the BJP," she said.

Also read: BJP, Amit Shah failed in Operation Lotus against TMC, says Kirti Azad

The crisis in Mamata Banerjee's outfit erupted within a month of it losing power in West Bengal, first in the state Assembly and then in Parliament. Nearly 20 Lok Sabha MPs, led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, wrote to Speaker Om Birla declaring support for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), dealing a blow to the beleaguered party's parliamentary unit and three years ahead of the next general elections.

In this edition of AI With Sanket, The Federal spoke with Moitra, a firebrand parliamentarian from Krishnanagar who chose to be an exception, about the situation, and she alleged that the rebel MPs were being paid upfront cash and monthly retainers in exchange for switching sides.

Excerpts from the interview

Why do you think this rebellion is happening in your party?

It's not a rebellion. It is an operation by the BJP — with money, with resources, and with pressure tactics using investigative agencies. And it is treason, treachery, and greed on the part of our MPs, combined with pressure from investigative agencies and money from the BJP. Those are the simple reasons. There's no rebellion.

If there's a rebellion, it doesn't happen a month or three days after an election loss. If there's a rebellion, the same people should not have fought on our tickets two years ago. The 80 MLAs who have won should not have fought on our ticket a month ago either. They should have done what (Chief Minister) Suvendu Adhikari rightly did — which is to say, "I have a problem with Abhishek Banerjee, I have a problem with Mamata Banerjee," and move over to the other side before the election, fight on a BJP ticket, and win.

They shouldn't have used Mamata's face, used our party, used our symbol, got themselves elected, and then suddenly turned around and said there's something wrong. That's what they've done.

Every day, it seems there is a new twist in the tale. How do you see it?

It's a very poor version — not of Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, but of Kabhi Gaddar Bhi Kabhi Sansad The. That's what this is.

Several MPs in your party are saying they are upset with Abhishek, not with Mamata. Kalyan Banerjee has gone on record to say this. Do you think this is the broad view among your party leaders?

That's utter garbage. You cannot count Kalyan in with all of these others. Kalyan has a specific problem regarding a particular case that he was fighting, and then he was removed. Mamata Didi is sorting that out. Kalyan is not with the rest of this group of 19. So, let's put that one aside.

Also read: INDIA Bloc united, I can vouch 100 pc for DMK: Rahul Gandhi

On these other 19 — there is no question about it. It is still Mamata Didi's party. It is Mamata Banerjee's party. Mamata Didi is the symbol. Mamata Didi is the vote-catcher. Mamata Didi has won the mandate — 2.6 crore votes. They have all been elected on Mamata Banerjee's face, not on Abhishek's face.

They should have done what Suvendu Adhikari rightly did — which is to say, "I have a problem with Abhishek Banerjee, I have a problem with Mamata Banerjee," and move over to the other side before the election.

As far as Abhishek is concerned, he is now a three-term MP. He has not just walked into the party. It's not as if Mamata Didi introduced him a week before and said he is taking over everything. Yes, Abhishek got his first ticket in 2014 by virtue of being her nephew — there is no doubt about that. But since then, he has won three times. He has been the national general secretary of our party for five or six years. And we had a huge victory in 2021 with him in that position.

So, till a month ago, all of these guys were begging for a meeting with Abhishek Banerjee. They were begging Abhishek to come to their constituencies to do a rally. And now all of a sudden, the problem becomes Abhishek Banerjee? It's the same thing that happens in the Congress when people want to leave — they say, "Oh, Rahul Gandhi doesn't meet us." Actually, they want to go to the BJP.

These guys have realised they have no stomach for opposition politics. They were enjoying the cream as long as they could come to Parliament, attack Modi, grandstand against the BJP, and go back home to a comfortable situation where the TMC was in power — where they had their police and their security and could tell the OC what to do, tell the administration what to do. They were happy then. Now that they are genuinely in opposition, with no power at the centre or in the state, they don't have the stomach for it.

They don't have the stomach because Abu Taher has something in Al Ameen mission, Khalilur Rahaman has a huge business to look after, and Yusuf Pathan has just been bashed by the Gujarat High Court, which said he is an encroacher who can't legalise what he's occupying.

Also read: Coup or rebellion? Who is behind TMC revolt? | Capital Beat

And then there's this fellow from Cooch Behar, Jagadish Basunia (MP), who came over from the Left — he's giving bytes saying, "Oh, they didn't ask me before taking an MLA." Damn it, your MLA is your wife (Sangita Roy Basunia from Sitai). We gave a ticket to your wife. You were the MLA. You became the MP. Your wife became the MLA. Do you think we decided to give it to your wife without asking you? This is a level of garbage.

Are you alleging that the BJP is paying a specific amount of bribe to these MPs?

I believe the numbers. I believe the numbers are Rs 4 crore upfront and Rs 1 crore a month for the next 36 months. Well, I really hope they got this kind of money. That's all I can say. If you've done it, I hope you've done it for good.

But to be clear — this is not something I am saying on my own. This is what the BJP is telling us. The BJP is telling us: "Aapke to koi-koi mahine mein 10 lakh mein bhi khush honge. Aapke koi-koi 50 mein khush ho gaye." This is what the BJP is telling us.

People within TMC suggest that even now, all is not lost — that the BJP is trying to reach a two-thirds majority among the 28 TMC MPs. Is that a real threat?

Let me tell you the law on this. Two-thirds of the MPs means nothing. In 2003, we passed the 91st Constitutional Amendment Act. What did that do? It changed Section 3 of the anti-defection law, which now means that two-thirds of the legislative party means nothing. Whether you have 19 MPs or 23 MPs means nothing. You need two-thirds of the original party. And even then, there is no provision for the recognition of a separate faction or a separate block.

What is this group of 19 MPs going to be? They're going to be the Yusuf group, or the Kakoli group, or the Saayoni group? What can they do? There is no recognition in law for a separate group of action. The only thing they can do is to merge with the BJP. The NDA is not a party. They have to merge with the BJP — and for that, two-thirds of the original party have to merge. That is the law, and that is well settled both in the constitutional amendment and as recently as in Subhash Desai vs Principal Secretary, Governor of Maharashtra.

The only one that surprised me was Saayoni Ghosh. She was named as the MP candidate from Jadavpur, which is the TMC's most prized constituency. That's where Mamata Banerjee herself launched her political career.

The problem with all these people is that they don't even know the law. The BJP is giving them money, giving them an easy ride, saying, "The police won't harass you, the ED won't harass you, nothing will happen to you. Go and enjoy yourself for the next three years." And they think they will sit in Parliament, enjoy their Air India tickets, eat in the Parliament canteen, and come back with CRPF to their areas. It's not going to be that easy.

Please resign and come back on a BJP ticket. Jyotiraditya Scindia went with 21 MLAs. They all resigned from the Congress and came back as BJP MLAs. I'm welcoming them. Let Abu Taher contest from Moradabad on a BJP ticket. Let Yusuf Pathan contest from Baharampur on a BJP ticket. What's the problem? Nishikant Dubey and C M Ramesh love them so much — take them in your party. Give them the lotus symbol. Tell them to fight. What's the problem?

Among those who have decided to turn coat, which name surprised or hurt you the most?

The only one that surprised me was Saayoni Ghosh. The only one — because I am deeply fond of her and deeply affectionate towards her. She is very young. She is a hard worker. She is not corrupt. And I think she has just got scared. I want to tell her again — it's a question of time. We all go through bad times, but conquering fear is how you move ahead. Because she has got so much from this party.

Also read: What went wrong for Mamata Banerjee and what lies ahead for TMC? | Capital Beat

She came into the party only in 2021 — that's only five years. I, for example, have been in politics for 18 years and I am still just an MP. It took me 18 years to get here. For her, in five years — she came in, was given an assembly ticket in February, lost that almost immediately, and within three years was named as president of the Trinamool Youth Congress. After that, she was named as the MP candidate from Jadavpur, which is the most prized constituency of the TMC. That's where Mamata Banerjee herself launched her political career.

She defeated her opponents, came to Parliament, and was given all the time and all the space. They gave her a helicopter to campaign. She has done these amazing meetings. She speaks in Hindi, which even I don't do. She has spoken all over UP. I was in Rampur, and people said, "Aapka Saayoni Ghosh itni achhi bolti hai. (your Saayoni Ghosh is such a good speaker)" Why did people like her? She was not there to become the next Kangana Ranaut or some glamorous BJP addition. She was there because she was Saayoni Ghosh. So, if you want to destroy your political capital for short-term money or short-term peace, that is very sad.

She is the only one who upset me. The rest of them mean nothing to me.

Some Congress leaders, including Ashok Gehlot, have argued that all regional parties — including the TMC — should merge into a grand Congress identity. How do you respond?

The BJP is absolutely desperate to get a two-thirds majority — because they want to change the Constitution. You can see it. It is insane the way they are going about this. Amit Shah is calling people himself. It has gone beyond anything we have seen before. This desperation is to be able to change the Constitution, to bring in delimitation, to bring in One Nation One Election. They've gone mad, and they will use anything possible to do it.

Also read: Will new Bengal govt continue with Durga Puja grants? CM indicates only need-based help

Under these circumstances, I think all leaders of the INDIA alliance have to look at the bigger picture. Yes, Arvind Kejriwal is fighting with the Congress over the Punjab elections today, so he can't ally with them. The DMK is upset with the Congress because they went with Vijay in order to keep the BJP out of Tamil Nadu after the election. Some parties have problems with some other parties. But the question now is far greater than that. It is now a question of the survival of democracy.

The anti-BJP vote is, even today, more than the BJP's combined vote. So, all our leaders — whether it's Mamata Banerjee, whether it's Arvind Kejriwal, whether it is Stalin ji, whether it is anybody — have to put their ego aside and come to some permutation or combination. I don't know whether it's a merger or whatever you call it. But they have to come together.

The content above has been transcribed from video using a fine-tuned AI model. To ensure accuracy, quality, and editorial integrity, we employ a Human-In-The-Loop (HITL) process. While AI assists in creating the initial draft, our experienced editorial team carefully reviews, edits, and refines the content before publication. At The Federal, we combine the efficiency of AI with the expertise of human editors to deliver reliable and insightful journalism.