Shashi Tharoor backs Mahua Moitra over circuit house eviction bid

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday expressed solidarity with Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra after the Nadia district administration allegedly tried to evict her from a circuit house in Krishnanagar. Moitra has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking his intervention and has threatened to move court, calling the action harassment. She said a crowd gathered outside the circuit house on Friday night raising 'Jai Shree Ram' slogans after she refused to leave.

Tharoor said all democrats must stand with Moitra. 'If the price of her convictions is that a mob is baying for her, it is the duty of the government to provide her security, not to ask her to vacate government accommodation,' he wrote on X. Moitra said she was entitled to stay as an MP and that district authorities pressured her to leave late at night. An order from the Nezarath deputy collector of Nadia stated the circuit house would not be available from August 14 evening for maintenance, but Moitra claimed she was not informed of any embargo when she booked or checked in.

Moitra urged Birla to protect the dignity of women parliamentarians. She said the Women's Reservation Bill would be meaningless unless the Speaker can safeguard the 74 women in the House. The matter is now awaiting the Speaker's response, while Moitra has said she will move the court if needed.