Mahua Moitra’s Fiery ‘Loving’ Note To Odisha IPS Officer Ahead Of 2nd Phase Bengal Elections

Krishnanagar/Nadia: Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra has launched a scathing attack on Battula Gangadhar, a 2011-batch IPS officer from the Odisha cadre currently serving as Police Observer in Nadia district, accusing him of overstepping his mandate and intimidating TMC workers ahead of the second phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections.

In a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) on April 27 and 28, Moitra directly addressed the officer, warning him against allegedly directing local police to threaten party workers and instruct them to remain indoors. She described the actions as “illegal” and in violation of High Court orders.

In one widely circulated post, Moitra wrote: “Hello Battula Gangadhar IPS 2011 Police Observer in Nadia – this is not Boudh in Odisha where you can beat up your juniors. STOP forcing police to threaten our workers & tell them to remain indoors. It’s illegal & against HC order. You will face the music.” The post was accompanied by an image.

She followed it up with a nearly two-minute video message sarcastically titled “A loving message for Battula Gangadhar IPS 2011 Odisha cadre from his friendly neighbourhood MP.”

In the video, Moitra addressed the officer and said, “Nadia is not Boudh where you beat up your ASI and not Rayagada where Odisha police mercilessly beat-up tribals.”

She accuses him of illegally contacting officers-in-charge (OCs) of police stations and asking them to go house-to-house to threaten TMC workers and prevent them from leaving their homes.

“I’m here to give you a very loving, very polite message, Mr Gangadhar… don’t try to go above & beyond your mandate… I’m watching. You are illegally calling up OCs… and asking them to go house-to-house… to get our Trinamool Congress workers and threaten them & tell them not [to] leave their homes,” the MP said, while referring to a High Court stay order against arrests and threats during the election period and reminded him that he must “stay within the law” as an observer appointed to maintain law and order.

In a subsequent post, Moitra highlighted the officer’s past, claiming that he “was attached to HQ on disciplinary grounds for assaulting his wife while serving as SP Mayurbhanj.”

She also questioned the Election Commission’s choice of observers: “What true peaches @ECISVEEP has picked!”

The remarks come as West Bengal gearing up to vote in the second and final phase of the Assembly elections on April 29. Several assembly constituencies in Nadia district, including Karimpur, Tehatta, Palashipara, Kaliganj, Nakashipara, Chapra, Krishnanagar Uttar, and Nabadwip, are scheduled to go to the polls. Moitra represents the Krishnanagar Lok Sabha constituency, which covers parts of the district. Police observers have been deployed across sensitive areas to ensure free and fair polling.

As of now, there has been no public response from Battula Gangadhar or the Election Commission of India to Moitra’s allegations.

Battula Gangadhar is the second IPS officer from Odisha, posted as Police Observer in Bengal, to have ruffled the TMC’s feathers. The Mamata Banerjee party has filed a writ petition in Calcutta High Court against IPS officer Parmar Smit Parshottamdas, accusing him of “serious misconduct” and breaching neutrality while serving as a Police Observer for four constituencies in South 24 Parganas district, including areas under Diamond Harbour police limits.