BJP files police complaint against TMC lawmaker Mahua Moitra over ‘anti-national’ remarks
India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday filed a police complaint against Trinamool Congress (TMC) parliamentarian Mahua Moitra, accusing her of making “anti-national” remarks against Home Minister Amit Shah. The complaint, lodged at Kotwali police station in Nadia district, followed comments Moitra made on Aug. 26 during a land allotment event in Krishnanagar. Speaking to reporters afterwards, Moitra criticised the government over illegal immigration and lashed out at Shah. “If no one is responsible for guarding India’s borders and thousands from other countries can just walk in, then the Home Minister’s head should be cut off and placed on the Prime Minister’s table,” Moitra said, referring to Shah. Her remarks sparked an immediate backlash from BJP leaders, who questioned how a sitting MP could speak of beheading a Union minister. Sukanta Majumdar, a BJP MP and former state party president, said: “Mahua proves that knowing English does not mean one is educated.” Sandeep Majumdar, BJP spokesperson for Nadia North organisational district, lodged the police complaint, demanding immediate action against the lawmaker. The controversy comes months ahead of West Bengal state elections. Immigration and border security have become flashpoints in the political contest between the BJP, which accuses the state government of sheltering illegal migrants for electoral gain, and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s TMC, which argues that border protection is the responsibility of the federally controlled Border Security Force (BSF).
TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee Seen Beside Modi on Day of Opposition’s EC Protest
On the day opposition parties marched to the Election Commission over alleged “vote theft” linked to the Statewide Integrated Register (SIR), senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) lawmaker Kalyan Banerjee was seen alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a government function in New Delhi. Banerjee, a six-term MP from Serampore, attended Monday’s inauguration of a newly built parliamentarians’ housing complex on Baba Kharak Singh Marg, where Modi formally opened 184 flats. Eyewitnesses said Modi greeted Banerjee with a smile, asking, “Kya Kalyanji, Kalyan hai to?” (“Mr. Kalyan, are you well?”), to which the MP replied affirmatively. Modi repeated the question, and Banerjee again responded positively. During a group photograph, Modi asked for chairs on the stage to be removed so everyone could stand together, personally moving one of them. Banerjee joined him in shifting the chairs, and in the final photograph the TMC MP stood next to the Prime Minister. The event was also attended by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, Union ministers Manohar Lal Khattar and Kiren Rijiju, among others. Banerjee said he missed the opposition’s Election Commission protest because he was occupied with a Supreme Court case the TMC has filed over the SIR issue, and had informed party leader Mamata Banerjee in advance. As a member of the House Standing Committee, Banerjee had overseen interior furnishing for the new housing project’s final phase. The appearance comes eight days after Banerjee resigned as TMC’s chief whip in the Lok Sabha, a move accepted by Mamata Banerjee last week. His presence next to Modi has triggered speculation within TMC circles, with some questioning whether it was intended to exert pressure on the party. Banerjee’s associates deny this, noting he has publicly expressed regret over earlier critical remarks about the TMC chief and spoke to her several times in recent days. The optics of a senior TMC MP with Modi on a day the opposition staged a high-profile protest has added fresh fuel to political chatter in West Bengal.
TMC MP Kirti Azad Seeks CBI, ED Probe into ‘Systemic’ Corruption in Eastern Coalfields, BJP ridicules TMC MP
Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Kirti Azad has written to Union Coal and Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy demanding a comprehensive investigation by federal agencies into what he described as “pervasive and systemic corruption” within Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), a subsidiary of Coal India Limited operating in West Bengal and Jharkhand. In the letter dated July 31, Azad expressed “deep concern” over a series of alleged financial and operational irregularities in ECL’s mining zones, including Kunustoria, Kajora, Pandaveswar, and Rajmahal. He urged immediate intervention by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), citing what he called an entrenched “criminal nexus” involving ECL officials and external contractors. The former cricketer-turned-MP, who also heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers, said he was approached by whistleblowers and NGOs who flagged large-scale bid rigging, coal pilferage, grade manipulation, and loss-making contracts that have drained public resources. Azad accused a cartel of 14 companies, all allegedly registered at a single address and controlled by two individuals, of monopolizing the tender process through collusion with ECL officials. These firms, he claimed, had formed a “one-man cartel” that dominates procurement, mining, transportation, and coal sales across multiple collieries. The letter further referred to a suspected coal pilferage racket centered in West Bengal’s Kunustoria and Kajora mining regions that, according to Azad, caused losses amounting to Rs 1,300 crore. He noted that hawala transactions and the arrest of seven ECL officials, including general managers and security staff, pointed to a wider institutional failure. Citing a recent Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report, Azad highlighted irregularities in contractor payments due to coal shortages during transportation, resulting in a loss of Rs 17.39 crore. He also alleged that officers were deliberately downgrading high-grade coal to lower grades to benefit private contractors. Azad’s letter also named Ambey Mining Private Limited as a central player in the alleged wrongdoing. He accused the firm’s top executives of bribing officials and manipulating tender norms in violation of Central Vigilance Commission guidelines. “The depth and breadth of these issues point not to sporadic corruption, but to an entrenched criminal nexus,” Azad wrote. He emphasized that only a federal investigation could restore accountability and public faith in ECL’s operations. The letter was also marked to the secretaries of the Coal and Mines Ministry, the ED, the CBI, and the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of ECL. Reacting to the development, BJP MP and Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar took a swipe at Azad and the TMC, saying on X (formerly Twitter): “At last TMC MPs have also started demanding investigation by central agencies like CBI & ED. This letter of MP Kirti Azad shows that he has lost faith in West Bengal Police.” He also noted that many of the individuals named in Azad’s complaint were allegedly close to Narendra Nath Chakraborty, the TMC district president of Paschim Burdwan. Eastern Coalfields Limited has not issued an official response. The Coal Ministry has also not commented on whether it will recommend a federal probe.
