A fresh controversy has erupted over Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra after she appeared to endorse a social media post that used racist and derogatory language against Indians celebrating Diwali overseas. The post, which described Indians as "braindead" and their Diwali festivities as "retarded garbage," triggered outrage online and strong condemnation from the BJP.
Moitra replied "I agree" to an inflammatory post on X (formerly Twitter) made by an unidentified user named "Nate." The post read:
"Just like that, we've let braindead fu***ng Indians turn our beautiful Western countries into total shi*holes with their retarded Diwali garbage that has zero to do with us."
Within hours, screenshots of Moitra's apparent endorsement began circulating widely, prompting accusations of "anti-India" and "anti-Hindu" bias.
The BJP's West Bengal unit issued a sharply worded statement accusing Moitra of "repeatedly insulting Indian culture and Hindus."
"This is the same Mahua Moitra who believes Bangladesh is better than India and has compromised national security in exchange for luxury handbags," the BJP's state unit wrote.
The statement went further, linking the controversy to Moitra's past comments:
"MPs from the Trinamool party consider Kashmir, an inseparable part of India, as 'Azad Kashmir,' find 'tourists' in terrorists, and under their rule in West Bengal, unspeakable atrocities are committed against women and children who dare to burst firecrackers during Diwali. In several places, Kali temples have been attacked simply because Hindus were performing Kali Puja. This is the same Mahua Moitra who once described Goddess Kali as a 'goddess of meat and liquor," the BJP said in a statement.
A foreign hate-monger, while criticizing the celebration of Hindu festival Diwali abroad, called Indians "brain dead", "shithole", and compared Diwali to retard and garbage.
— BJP West Bengal (@BJP4Bengal) October 23, 2025
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra expressed her complete agreement with this statement in a tweet. This… pic.twitter.com/LL2Upb2qxk
Facing mounting criticism, Moitra later issued a clarification on X, saying her endorsement had been a "genuine mistake."
"Just clarifying my Twitter feed was showing a lot of videos and I meant to say 'I agree' to a video just below the racist one by some Nate. My mistake. Travelling & didn't check till now. Sorry trolls," she wrote.
Just clarifying my twitter feed was showing a lot of videos and I meant to say “ I agree” to a video just below the racist one by some Nate. My mistake. Travelling & didn't check till now. Thanks @RShivshankar for calling me out but was a genuine mistake. Sorry trolls .
— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) October 23, 2025
Moitra's explanation did little to calm the backlash. While some users accepted her clarification, others accused her of making excuses.
One user commented sarcastically, "Should've gone with 'someone hacked my account' or 'intern had control and posted that tweet.' Would've sold much better as a justification, just saying."
However, others came to her defence. "Totally understandable - social media feeds move fast, and it's easy to click the wrong post while scrolling. Appreciate your honesty in clarifying it publicly. Real ones always own up instead of hiding. Stay strong, and don't let the trolls get to you," another user wrote.
The Trinamool Congress has not officially commented on the controversy.
Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world
