Femina Fab 40: MP Mahua Moitra Is Bold And Radical In Her Views

Photograph: BCCL

Femina’s Fabulous 40 for 2021
The Olympians who represented the country on a prestigious platform. Some brought glory and others hope. The women who inspire us and make us believe that anything is possible, especially after the year that we have had. Women who have raised their voices and lent a voice to those who did not have one. There are too many to count, but this selection of 40 women will motivate us to hold our heads high while we march ahead

Mahua Moitra
Politician

A charismatic, outspoken and dynamic leader, orator and writer Mahua Moitra is an Indian politician and Member of Parliament. An elected member of the Lok Sabha from the Krishnapur constituency, West Bengal, since 2019, she is a member
of the All India Trinamool Congress.

Originally from Assam, Moitra finished her schooling in Kolkata and studied economics and mathematics at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, The USA. She went on to work as an investment banker with JPMorgan Chase, and left a successful career in the field in New York City and London to return to India in 2009, and pursue politics. She started her career as a politician with the Indian Youth Congress, working closely with Rahul Gandhi on the Aam Aadmi Ka Sipahi project.

Soon after, in 2010, Moitra joined the Mamata Banerjee-led All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). In 2016, she contested in from West Bengal’s Karimpur constituency, as a representative for the AITC and won her place in the Legislative Assembly with a majority. After serving in West Bengal for three years, in 2019, she participated in the Lok Sabha elections from the Krishnapur Constituency against the BJP’s Kalyan Dube and won with a majority of over 60,000 votes.

As an MP, Moitra has won herself a reputation for being bold and radical in her views. As a result of her outspokenness, she is now the face of liberal views in Indian politics and has gained massive support from the country’s youth and women.

In her maiden speech, Moitra created quite the buzz calling out Indian politics for moving on a path to fascism. During the discussion on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address, she presented her staunch views on how democracy in India is at stake at the hands of the current leaders. This fearless take on the government received both criticism and applause. In her subsequent speeches, she established her firm opposition to fascism, her thoughts on the ignorance of elected leaders, and advocated for change.

Despite all the flak she receives, Moitra has defended herself and her voice time and again. She represents a younger generation of leaders in Parliament, and has proven that, when women are given a place at the table, they bring fire and ice. Out of the 543 members of the Lok Sabha, only 79 seats are held by women. In her Parliament speeches, Moitra has exhibited utmost diligence, research and empathy on serious topics that have given rise to debates. She is applauded for putting her points across, regardless of the brickbats thrown at her. She will not be interrupted, and, given the meticulous research she puts into her speeches, she also provides well-thought-out solutions to the problems at hand.

The front runner of progress, Moitra is a woman proving to the world that politics needs more leaders like her.

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