Hyderabad: A ghost from 1957 has come to haunt the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the fag end of 2020 and the centre of the action is yet again, Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency in Nadia district of West Bengal.
Mahua Moitra, TMC Member of Parliament from Krishnanagar has cooked up a controversy of sorts on December 6 by shooing off a couple of journalists in Nadia’s Gayeshpur while she was attending a party meeting.
Incidentally, when Mahua reached the auditorium where the meeting was to be held, a ruckus broke out between two warring factions of the party and in video footage shot by several people at the venue.
It was seen that she was desperately trying to ensure order amid chaos. At that point, she spotted a couple of media persons among those gathered in the hall and shooed them off by saying, “Who had called these Two Paise media here? Some leaders here are more interested to make a mark on television. Remove media from here.”
Mahua’s comments instantly hit social media and became viral and amid all this, the forgotten and forlorn ‘Two Paise’ emerged as a straight winner!
First minted in 1957 at the Bombay Mint, the Two Paise coins used to be known as ‘Naya Paisa (new paisa).
The scalloped shaped coins were initially minted in an aluminium and bronze alloy.
From 1965, when it started to be minted at the Calcutta Mint; the combination was changed to an aluminium and magnesium alloy.
The Two Paise coins were stopped being minted in 1980 and the Government of India finally decided to withdraw coins of denomination of 25 Paise and below from circulation from June 30, 2011.
Much time has passed since and many in today’s India can hardly relate to something like a Two Paise coin, which once jingled in the pockets of thousands. But, thanks of Mahua Moitra, the bygone innocuous Two Paise, is back in action, albeit on social media and mostly as memes.
It was Mahua herself, who took to Twitter to make her stand clear on the issue.
“My meme-editing skills are improving! I apologize for the mean hurtful accurate things I said,” came her reply to widespread condemnation of her comment.
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My meme-editing skills are improving! pic.twitter.com/PyO69avwRi
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) December 7, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">My meme-editing skills are improving! pic.twitter.com/PyO69avwRi
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) December 7, 2020My meme-editing skills are improving! pic.twitter.com/PyO69avwRi
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) December 7, 2020
Several regional news outlets have gone to the extent of ‘boycotting’ Mahua from their coverage, but an undeterred Mahua has shot a second salvo through another tweet last night, which said, “Sorry Zee but doesn’t a boycott mean you actually stop writing about the person and giving them all day coverage? Another harebrained @BJP troll cell plant you are no doubt playing out!”
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Sorry Zee but doesn’t a boycott mean you actually stop writing about the person & giving them all day coverage?
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) December 8, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
Another harebrained @BJP troll cell plan you are no doubt playing out!
">Sorry Zee but doesn’t a boycott mean you actually stop writing about the person & giving them all day coverage?
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) December 8, 2020
Another harebrained @BJP troll cell plan you are no doubt playing out!Sorry Zee but doesn’t a boycott mean you actually stop writing about the person & giving them all day coverage?
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) December 8, 2020
Another harebrained @BJP troll cell plan you are no doubt playing out!
The Kolkata Press Club has strongly criticised Mahua’s comments and in a statement, the Club said it is, “Deeply concerned and strongly condemns the comments made by Mahua Moitra.”
Terming the statement as “Unwarranted and Humiliating”, the statement said, “In a democratic setup, the importance of journalism and the respect it commands is known to all.
Journalists braving adverse situations as part of their professional struggle and social responsibility are respected globally. No one has the right to malign the work of journalists. We denounce the MP’s comments and expect that she withdraws her comment and apologies.”
The war of words and ballistic comments on social media over Mahua’s words bring back the memory of her predecessor from the same Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency.
Tapas Pal’s caustic comments ahead of the 2014 general elections had also gone viral instantly. Pal, then a sitting MP, had threatened members of the opposition with rape and murder during a rally at Choumaha on June 14, in the same Nadia district.
“If anyone from the CPI(M) dares to touch my mother, sister, uncle or aunt, then this Tapas Pal won’t spare them. Tapas Pal will shoot them with his revolver. Remember, I am from Chandernagore and not Kolkata… If anybody from the opposition dares to touch a daughter, father, child from Trinamool, I will ruin their entire clan. I will set my boy on them, they will rape them,” Pal’s words were enough to draw widespread criticism and to such an extent that even his wife Nandini denounced him for his comments.
With Mahua Moitra, Trinamool’s trouble with motor mouths seems far from over. Along with people like Anubrata Mondal, things could turn worse.
Incidentally, both Pal and Moitra blurted out their comments ahead of crucial elections and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee is already in damage control mode.
As more and more TMC MLAs distance themselves from Mahua’s comments on media persons, Mamata while addressing a rally near Raniganj yesterday said, she and her party have cordial relations with the media and she respects journalists.
When Mamata Banerjee marched to the hustings in 2011 ousting the Left Front from power, she had a decisive slogan for her supporters – Badla noy, Bodol chai (We want change, not revenge). Will her party MP’s remark on media persons have an adverse impact on the upcoming polls? Will it impact the netizens who have come down heavily on Mahua for her remark?
The results will be out there only a few months from now. Till then, the ghost of Two Paise will keep haunting the Trinamool Congress.
