‘TMC chor’: Mahua Moitra alleges harassment onboard IndiGo flight, blames ‘BJP culture’

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra on Thursday alleged that she was harassed by a group of men aboard an IndiGo flight travelling from Kolkata to Delhi, saying the incident compromised her safety during the journey. According to Moitra, the incident took place on flight 6E719 while she was travelling to Delhi to attend a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence. She said the matter was immediately reported to the cabin crew.

In a post on X, Moitra alleged that a group of four to six men behaved in an intimidating manner during the flight.

“Was on seat 1F on 6E719. Four to six men boarded as a group, leered at me, and went to the back of the aircraft. When the flight landed, and before the doors were opened, this is what they did and filmed it. This is no ‘citizen anger’. This is harassment, and it violates my safety on an aircraft. There is no way these louts can get away with this harassment inside an aeroplane,” she wrote.

In another post on X, the 51-year-old MP blamed what she described as “BJP culture” for the incident and said she decided to formally raise the matter after videos from the flight began circulating online.

“This is BJP culture. Why is anyone surprised? I ignored it & went to my meeting from the airport. Then people forwarded me a video which the Sanghis were ‘viralling’. That’s when I called it out. @IndiGo6E tells me they need a formal complaint. Which I am sending,” she wrote.

Mahua Moitra shares a video from inside the aircraft

The Krishnanagar MP also shared a 28-second video allegedly recorded moments before the aircraft doors opened after landing in Delhi. In the clip, several men can allegedly be heard shouting “Chor, Chor, TMC Chor” and “Jai Shri Ram”.

Moitra tagged the Civil Aviation Minister in her post and urged authorities to take action against those involved. She also requested the airline to review the cabin crew report and place the passengers on a “no-fly list”.

Later on Thursday night, Moitra submitted a formal complaint to the Director General of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the Civil Aviation Minister, the Public Grievances Officer in the ministry and IndiGo’s nodal officer. The complaints were reportedly sent through both Speed Post and email.

The controversy comes days after the BJP secured a sweeping victory in the West Bengal Assembly elections, winning 207 seats with a 45.84 per cent vote share, while the All India Trinamool Congress was reduced to 80 seats with 40.8 per cent votes.