Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra was pelted with eggs by alleged BJP supporters in Tehatta, Nadia, on Wednesday afternoon as she left a party meeting, bringing the implementation of a recent Calcutta High Court security direction under scrutiny. The incident took place in the presence of police personnel, according to a report by Telegraph India.
Moitra, the MP from Krishnanagar, said she had informed the police about her visit in accordance with the court’s direction and that a nodal officer had been appointed. The court had ordered the Krishnanagar police district to provide her with two additional personal security guards whenever she visited her constituency for political events or public outreach.
Justice Saugata Bhattacharyya issued the direction for 30 days and asked Moitra to inform the superintendent of police 48 hours before any visit. The order came barely a fortnight before Wednesday’s incident. Moitra said four police personnel were with her during the attack and that additional personnel arrived later.
Videos livestreamed by Moitra on Facebook showed broken eggshells on her face as she moved towards her vehicle. She repeatedly asked the police to clear a path through the protesters. In the video, the inspector-in-charge of Tehatta police station, Supriya Ranjan Maji, was seen asking her to move aside to avoid the protesters, according to the report.
Moitra alleged that the police failed to control the protesters and instead forcibly put her into the car. She also questioned how eggs could be brought and thrown at her in front of police personnel despite the court’s direction. In a post on X, she described the incident as “disgraceful” and referred to the possibility of contempt of court.
Local sources cited by Telegraph India said a group of BJP supporters, including the local mandal president and the president and vice-president of the Tehatta-I panchayat samiti, had gathered near the meeting venue carrying eggs. Police allegedly asked them to leave, but they remained there when Moitra came out. The report did not include an independent confirmation of the identities or actions of those involved.
The BJP denied that its workers were involved. State chief spokesperson Debjit Sarkar said he condemned eggs being thrown at a woman but questioned whether the incident had occurred as described. He said he did not believe BJP workers were involved.
The confrontation follows a series of political protests involving Moitra in Nadia. The previous week, she faced black flags and “go back” slogans while leaving a party event in Chapra, although no eggs were thrown during that incident.
The latest episode also revived an exchange from a Supreme Court hearing on August 7. A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu had declined to interfere with a Calcutta High Court direction requiring Moitra to appear before an investigating officer in a case concerning an allegedly provocative Facebook post. During the hearing, Justice Datta orally questioned her fear that eggs could be thrown at her. Moitra later referred to that observation while commenting on Wednesday’s incident.
The immediate issue is whether the court-directed security arrangement was adequately communicated and enforced during the MP’s constituency visit. The Calcutta High Court’s 30-day direction remains the stated framework for her security during political events and public outreach, with advance notice to the superintendent of police required for each visit.
