Kolkata, Aug 4 (IANS) Veteran and four-time Lok Sabha member Kalyan Banerjee on Monday attacked his fellow party Lok Sabha member Mahua Moitra shortly after announcing his resignation from the chair of the Chief Whip of Trinamool Congress’s Parliamentary party in the lower house.

“I have taken note of the recent personal remarks made by Ms Mahua Moitra in a public podcast. Her choice of words, including the use of dehumanising language such as comparing a fellow MP to a ‘pig’, is not only unfortunate but reflects a deep disregard for basic norms of civil discourse,” Banerjee wrote in a social media post.

The Trinamool MP’s strong reaction came a day after Moitra courted a controversy by comparing him with a “pig”.

“You don’t wrestle with a pig. Because the pig likes it and you get dirty,” Moitra said while taking part in a podcast interview.

She made those statements in response to Banerjee’s recent personal attack against her regarding her marriage to Pinaki Misra, a former BJD Lok Sabha member and senior legal counsel.

Reacting to Moitra’s comments, Banerjee indirectly said in his social media post that politicians like Moitra should take a hard look at the kind of politics she was practising and the hollowness it exposes.

“When a public representative stoops to name-calling and coarse innuendo, it reflects not strength, but insecurity,” Banerjee added.

The Trinamool leader further said that labelling a male colleague as ‘sexually frustrated’ was not boldness, but rather it was an outright abuse.

“If such language were directed at a woman, there would be nationwide outrage, and rightly so. But when a man is the target, it’s dismissed or even applauded. Abuse is abuse – regardless of gender,” Banerjee added.

Banerjee also accused Moitra of hiding her failures by indulging in a mud-slinging exercise.

“If Ms Moitra thinks that flinging gutter insults will mask her failures or distract from serious questions about her record, she is deluding herself. Those who rely on abuse instead of answers are not champions of democracy – they are its embarrassment,” he said.

–IANS

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