FIGHT TO THE FINISH

finds herself in a legal and ethical grey zone; coming out of the cash for query’ scandal unscathed could be the biggest test of her political career

- SONI MISHRA

Mahua Moitra’s petite build can be highly misleading. She has a jumbo-sized persona which has loomed large over Parliament and beyond ever since she arrived on the scene as a Lok Sabha MP of the Trinamool Congress in 2019. She has gained a reputation for taking on the ruling establishment fearlessly, with her no-holds-barred speeches in Parliament, demanding accountability from the government. She is feisty, known to give it back as good as she gets. And she is unapologetic about her love for the good things in life or for letting her hair down, which may be incongruous with traditional notions.

The 49-year-old investment banker-turned-politician is in the middle of a serious crisis, facing perhaps the biggest political challenge of her life. In the eye of a storm over a “cash-for-query” scandal, the Krishnanagar MP is on the verge of being expelled from the Lok Sabha. More importantly, her credibility and trustworthiness as a political leader are at stake.