TMC MP Mahua Moitra’s ‘₹40 crore’ jibe has seriously angered 20 rebel party MPs. They are now planning to take her to court for defamation after she accused them of taking money to switch sides.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra could be in legal trouble. Around 20 rebel TMC MPs are planning to sue her for defamation. This comes after she posted on social media, suggesting they were “sold” for ₹40 crore each.
These 20 MPs recently left the TMC to join a little-known party from Tripura, the National Citizen Party (NCPI). The rebel group’s leader, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, confirmed that they discussed taking legal action against Mahua in a virtual meeting.
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What Mahua Moitra Said
This whole issue is part of a bigger crisis for Mamata and Abhishek Banerjee. While Ritabrata’s faction was claiming to be the ‘real TMC’ in the state assembly, 20 of the party’s 28 MPs in Delhi rebelled. They joined the NCPI, which they claim is the BJP’s biggest ally. This happened just as the Shiv Sena was splitting in Maharashtra.
The controversy started when Mahua drew a parallel with the political drama in Maharashtra. There, Uddhav Thackeray’s aide Sanjay Raut had accused rebel MPs of taking ₹15 crore each to join the Eknath Shinde camp. Mahua shared that post and took a sharp dig at her own party’s rebels.
She wrote, “Only 15 crores? Why so cheap? I believe our MPs took a 4 crore advance and are getting 1 crore per month for the remaining 36 months.” In short, her allegation was that each rebel MP was getting ₹40 crore to go against Mamata.
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The Rebels Hit Back
The rebel MPs are furious. They accuse Mahua of making insulting comments about them on social media and to the media, especially for siding with the BJP after winning on a TMC ticket.
Shatabdi Roy, one of the rebel MPs, told reporters, “We are thinking about taking legal action against Mahua Moitra. That’s all I can say for now.” According to sources, a defamation case is very likely on the cards.