Mahua Moitra’s penalisation, although its extent is yet to be finalised by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, was preordained. India’s current political regime would have found reasons, sooner rather than later, to punish her for several reasons, not the least because she unabashedly, defied the stereotyped role model of a virtuous mother, sister, daughter or daughter-in-law.
This had to be done ‘now’ for two reasons. One, she was taking on the country’s highest and mightiest consistently and unsparingly. Two, parliamentary elections are imminent and unchecked criticism by her during the remainder of parliament sessions, could be greatly damaging for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Elected to the current Lok Sabha after an ‘eventful’ decade in public life, she earned greater fame and notoriety, depending on which side of the political divide one was, with her maiden parliamentary speech in June 2019, during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the president.
Women ‘like her’, more often than not, get accused of a several ‘crimes’ almost immediately after stepping into public life. They are targeted because their presence upsets the patriarchal belief that only women conforming to social mores can be successful.
Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi remains among the few Indian women to secure untrammelled power, but, she consolidated her hold, after positioning herself as the only man in her cabinet.
Also read: ‘Over in Minutes’: Ethics Committee Recommends Expulsion of TMC MP Mahua Moitra From Lok Sabha
Moitra’s party chief, Mamata Banerjee, despite her fiery capacities displayed over more than four decades in politics, remains the universal didi. Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he infamously hurled that misogynous taunt at her, had to inevitably use her moniker.
Moitra in contrast, did not ‘sanitise’ her sexuality, never denied her relationship and had the gumption to label her primary accuser as a “jilted ex”. It was not surprising that her interrogation during the Ethics Committee meeting was aimed at learning who she spoke with at night and if businessman Darshan Hiranandani’s wife was aware of his interactions with her. Ruling party members in this instance, men especially, behaved like typical male chauvinists unnerved by ‘independent’ women.
To counter women, they know just one trick: painting them as being of ‘easy virtue’. It is not surprising that BJP social media handles took the lead in circulating her pictures with a glass of wine in hand and also being arm in arm with a male political leader.
After acquiring a public image, Moitra was particularly susceptible to being targeted by misogynists because she had no family ‘shield’; a single woman, a divorced one at that, especially if the former spouse is non-Indian, is particularly vulnerable.
Only in exceptional cases can a woman with Moitra’s personal background avoid presumptions about easy ‘availability’. Almost universally, only the virginal or the strictly monogamous-for-life are considered virtuous.
Also read: Mahua Moitra and the Question of Maryada
Her styling, grooming, penchant for branded clothing, and accessories, mirrored Modi’s fashionable outfits and tastes. But, unlike him, she had no socially backward identity and economically underprivileged upbringing to flaunt. Furthermore, questions could be asked about her relationship status because of her gender identity. Similar posers are not put to male politicians, especially from Treasury Benches.
Once relative anonymity derived from association with Rahul Gandhi’s youth brigade ended in 2010, and she switched sides to the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC), the risk of orchestrated attacks increased. With the Congress still in power and the BJP emerging as serious challenger, she got opportunities to showcase her skills at playing David while battling Goliaths in TV studios.
Well before successfully contesting the 2016 West Bengal assembly polls, she made a mark, courtesy her way with words, a bristly tongue that knew little restraint, and the aplomb to ask awkward questions to those in power. This drew sharp responses, especially from the BJP which emerged as TMC’ principal opponent in the state. Much of the exasperation stemmed from her being a woman.
One heated exchange thereafter, went all the way to the Calcutta high court. The defamation suit she filed, involved Union minister Babul Supriyo, (paradoxically with her party now) for serving a reminder during a verbal duel on TV, that her name was ascribed to a flower from which a popular indigenous alcoholic drink is made.
Moitra’s ‘arrival’ on the Indian centre stage was however, courtesy her 2019 speech. Shobha De, the high priestess of allusion or innuendo, in a newspaper column, noted the ‘birth’ of a political star’.
Also read: Mahua Moitra Slams Ethics Committee Probe as ‘Filthy, Unethical’, Finds Support From Opposition MPs
In that piece, more space was devoted to assertions like Mamata Banerjee fielding “astonishingly attractive female candidates in the 2019 election” and how “aggression combined with sex appeal works best”.
In contrast, there was little of what she said, whether Moitra politically stung her adversaries or not. Effectively, Moitra’s ‘form’, which included “couture, or handpicked stylish sarees”, was given greater importance than the ‘content’ of her speech.
In her speech during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President, Moitra listed seven signs of early fascism in Modi’s India. She also drew attention to a poster on fascism, once available in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. It included “rampant sexism” as one of the signs of onrushing fascism.
Gender-based chauvinism has been visible in abundance since the ‘case’ against Moitra was built over the past month. In the Ethics Committee meeting which resulted in Moitra storming out and the opposition members too staging a walk-out, sexual insinuations were ingrained in the questions.
Moitra made her share of errors. The sequence of events, listed to pronounce her guilty, point to her self-righteousness blanking the ability to function within the framework of law. Associating Darshan Hiranandani with her political campaign against Modi and his allegedly ‘favourite’ house of Adani, was not just indiscreet, but also violated law.
Her claim that most MPs share log-in IDs and passwords with their secretarial assistants is not enough to explain why Hiranandani logged into her parliament account from Dubai. Further criminal recommendations, which have been suggested, have the capacity to keep Moitra preoccupied in the months ahead. She would possibly be also made an example for other critics and prod some among them to heed the warnings.
The cash-for-query accusation has certainly not been proved but she has publicly accepted to receiving valuable gifts even though Moitra is likely to have the capacity to purchase those with her own, professionally earned wealth. But, the country’s often not so rational laws could be used to legally haul her up.
Despite being the world’s largest democracy, most Indian political parties are not run on democratic lines. Parties are mostly led by domineering individuals and the TMC is no different. Most party chiefs dislike strong individuals with ambition to bolster their independent public profile.
Moitra erred by assuming that her efforts at enhancing her public image would be acceptable within the party, merely because she was taking on the two most powerful intimately connected individuals. The nexus between politics and business – across parties too, is among the well-known realities of Indian polity.
Moitra is as much a victim of the regime’s viciousness as her overzealousness. In her unsparing drive against the Modi-Adani duo, Moitra erred by not relegating to the backseat her personal efforts at legitimising the space for ‘her kind’ of women in public life.
This fatal error left her with few friends outside the intelligentsia, inconsequential in the world of realpolitik.
Much has been made of the hostile grilling at the Ethics Committee meeting and references to Draupadi’s vastraharan or disrobing from the Mahabharata have been made.
But can it be ignored that Draupadi was not humiliated by the Kauravas alone? Is it not a fact that in the epic tale, her own family was as much to blame for her being shamed?
Much before the ‘final’ punishment for Moitra is declared, TMC appointed her as the president of the Krishnanagar district unit of the party. Is this evidence of the party being more circumspect and not fully backing a fearless parliamentarian who took on not just India’s most powerful but also challenged the most retrograde stereotype?
Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay is the author of The Demolition and the Verdict: Ayodhya and the Project to Reconfigure India. His other books include The RSS: Icons of the Indian Right and Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times. He tweets at @NilanjanUdwin.
