Mahua Moitra Seeks Om Birla’s Intervention Over Nadia Circuit House Row

TMC MP Mahua Moitra has written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking his intervention after alleging that the Nadia district administration tried to force her to vacate a circuit house in Krishnanagar late on Friday night, despite her having been allotted a room at the state-owned property.

Moitra has threatened to approach the court over what she described as harassment, alleging that a large crowd gathered outside the circuit house after she refused to leave and shouted 'Jai Shree Ram' slogans. In her letter, the Krishnanagar MP said the incident raised concerns over the safety and dignity of women parliamentarians.

"I kindly request you to urgently look into the matter and take necessary steps to set an example and ensure the dignity of women parliamentarians across the country.

"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," the MP wrote in her letter to Birla.

According to PTI, Moitra had moved into the circuit house for an overnight stay following a Parliament session. She asserted that as an MP visiting her constituency, she was entitled to stay there, but alleged that district authorities pressured her to move out in the middle of the night with the intention of harassing her.

Moitra said she entered her room at around 6.15 pm and was shown her usual room, which had already been prepared. Tea was served in her room at 7 pm and dinner at 9.20 pm, she said.

"I went into the room of the Circuit House around 6.15 pm. The staff showed me to my usual room, which was made up and ready. Tea was served in my room at 7 pm, and dinner was served at 9:20 pm in the room.

"At 9.47 pm, I received a call from the additional district magistrate of Nadia, who informed me that I needed to vacate the premises. When I asked him the reason, he said that the "order had come from the top", and he was only conveying the message," she wrote.

Moitra said that at 10.52 pm, she received a WhatsApp message from the district administration containing a copy of an order stating that no new reservations were to be honoured at the circuit house.

The MP had earlier posted the order issued by the Nezarath deputy collector of Nadia on her social media accounts. The order said the Nadia circuit house in Krishnanagar would not be available from the evening of August 14, 2026, citing annual maintenance, upkeep and cleaning arrangements.

"In view of facilitating the annual maintenance cum upkeep and cleaning arrangements, the Nadia circuit house (at Krishnanagar) shall not be available for service from the evening of August 14, 2026, till further orders," the document stated.

"Reservations already confirmed prior to 13th August, 2026, only shall be exempted from the general purview of this order," it added.

Moitra claimed that nobody informed her about the booking embargo when she made the reservation or when she checked into the circuit house.

"I was given a fully made-up room; food was served by staff. If indeed there was an "order," why did the administration wait till 10 pm to ask me to vacate and send me the order only at 10:52 pm?" she wrote.

PTI reported that Moitra claimed she heard a commotion at around 11 pm and realised that a large crowd had gathered outside the premises' gates, "baying for my blood".

"On the one hand, the administration started harassing me to vacate from 10 pm onwards, and on the other, a mob gathered shouting slogans waiting for me to exit the gates," she wrote.

Moitra said the circuit house was located opposite the bungalows of both the district superintendent of police and the district magistrate and was supposed to be a secure area.

"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 leave," Moitra argued.

Moitra asserted that the premises, opposite the bungalows of both the district superintendent of police and the district magistrate, are supposed to be a secure area "where no crowds can gather, let alone a lynch mob".

"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," she added.

Earlier on Friday evening, Moitra had posted a video message on social media in which she said she would not back down.

"The Supreme Court had asked me to face the people on the ground like a freedom fighter, and I am doing just that," she said.

She was referring to the apex court's observations in connection with a petition she had moved seeking protection from the crowd culture of repeated attacks and pelting of eggs at TMC leaders.

Moitra also referred to the Calcutta High Court's directions on her protection.

"The Calcutta High Court had told me that the district administration would provide me protection, and yet it is the same authority that's ordering me to move out and harass me," she said.

Moitra said she was planning to move a privilege motion in the Lok Sabha and considering moving the Calcutta High Court as well.

TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee criticised the Bengal government over the incident, calling it a reflection of "insecurity" of the Suvendu Adhikari administration.

"A woman MP is ordered out of a Circuit House in the middle of the night. And tomorrow, the BJP leaders will stand before the country and speak about women's empowerment," he wrote on X on Friday night.

"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 @SuvenduWB. 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 added.

The incident also drew responses from opposition leaders, including Congress's Pawan Khera and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

There was no official response from the Nadia district authorities over the incident.