‘A woman asked to leave at 9:47pm’: Mahua Moitra writes to LS speaker after being asked to vacate circuit house

Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker Mahua Moitra has written to Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla seeking his urgent intervention after she was allegedly asked to vacate a circuit house in her Krishnanagar constituency late on Friday night, calling it a violation of her rights and a threat to her safety.

Moitra called the Women’s Reservation Bill a “matter of jest” unless the Speaker’s office ensured the dignity and security of the 74 women parliamentarians in Lok Sabha.

“A woman MP, staying alone, being asked to vacate her rightful accommodation at 9.47 pm not only gravely violates her rights, but brings into question the safety and security accorded to women by the ruling dispensation…I kindly request you to urgently look into the matter and take the necessary steps to set an example and ensure the dignity of women parliamentarians across the country,” Moitra wrote in the letter to Birla.

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“Any Women’s Reservation Bill seeking to bring in more women is a matter of jest unless your august office can protect the 74 women who have battled great odds to enter this House,” she added.

According to Moitra, she had returned to her constituency after the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die on Thursday and checked into the local circuit house at 6:15pm. She alleged that the district administration of West Bengal’s Nadia then ordered her to vacate the premises late at night, further adding that a large crowd had gathered outside the premises shouting ‘Jai Shree Ram’ slogans after she refused to leave. The Nazareth deputy collector of Nadia sent an order at 10:52pm stating that the circuit house would not be available for use from the evening of August 14 due to annual upkeep and maintenance.

Dilip Ghosh, a minister in the West Bengal cabinet, called the allegations baseless and said that opposition to Moitra and her party was not new. “Their allegations are baseless. Even when their government was in power, the people there used to oppose them, and people from their own party used to oppose them and complain,” said Ghosh.

Moitra questioned why she was allowed to check in, provided a prepared room, served dinner and then unexpectedly asked to leave. In a video posted on X, she claimed that the Additional District Magistrate had told her that the order to vacate had “come from the top”.

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In the letter addressed to the Lok Sabha Speaker, she said, “The Ministry of Home Affairs, in its Order of Preference, ranks MPs at number 21. That is even higher than the Chief Secretary of a state, or a Chief Minister of a Union Territory.” “An MP, when she is visiting her constituency, is supposed to be accommodated in the Circuit House, and cannot be asked to vacate,” she added.

Congress MP Pawan Khera said on Friday in a post on X, “A sitting woman MP is being forced to vacate the circuit house in the middle of the night while there is a baying mob waiting for her outside,” urging the Union home minister, prime minister and West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari to ensure her safety.

Trinamool Congress (TMC)’s Abhishek Banerjee criticised the incident, saying that the BJP talks about women empowerment and then uses the power of the state to intimidate and suppress a woman who is opposing them. “You cannot celebrate Nari Shakti on a stage and use the power of the State to intimidate a woman who challenges you. That is not authority. That is insecurity. And when a government becomes so insecure that even basic dignity becomes political, it is the government that diminishes itself, not the woman it seeks to humiliate,” he said.

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Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, reacting to the episode, asked the Speaker to clarify whether the treatment of Moitra amounted to a violation of parliamentary privilege. His remarks directly echoed Moitra’s request to Birla to examine the incident and take steps to protect the dignity and rights of MPs.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] MP John Brittas called the incident “unacceptable and deplorable”, urging Birla to intervene at the earliest. “Is this what they claim to respect women? The same PM who speaks of Nari Shakti from the Red Fort? Rules, protocol and basic dignity thrown to the wind,” he said on X.

Framing the incident as a case of local dissatisfaction, Ghosh said, “They harassed our people a lot — through the police, cases, beatings and violence. So today, the opposite is bound to happen…Come on, you are elected representatives. You have to listen to the people.”