The political landscape in New Delhi intensified on January 7, 2026, when Trinamool Congress (TMC) Member of Parliament Mahua Moitra shared a verse on social media dedicated to jailed activist Umar Khalid after bail denial. The Supreme Court rejected bail for both Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in connection with an alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 northeast Delhi riots. Moitra shared her post on X under the title You will rise, Umar Khalid.
Poetic Support and Campus Sloganeering Fuel Political Backlash
Mahua Moitra stated, addressing Umar Khalid, that he would rise, noting that people might record him in history with bitter and twisted lies, trample him into the dirt, yet he would still rise like dust, attack him with words, pierce him with their eyes, and try to destroy him with hatred, but he would still rise like air.
The Supreme Court on Monday denied bail to Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam in a case about an alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 north-east Delhi riots. However, the SC granted bail to Gulfisha Fatima, Meeran Haider, Shifa Ur Rehman, and Mohd. Saleem Khan and Shadab Ahmad.
A group of JNU students allegedly raised slogans against Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on campus after the Supreme Court denied bail.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis condemned the demonstrations, delivering a stark assertion to reporters. Devendra Fadnavis stated that the ideological descendants of Sharjeel Imam were born at JNU, warning that they would crush such malicious intentions standing with the country’s traitors and those speaking the language of dividing the nation. Speaking to reporters, CM Fadnavis said they would crush such wicked intentions.
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala echoed those sentiments, characterizing Congress and Left parties as an anti-India urban naxal gang,
alleging they prioritise individuals like Umar Khalid and Sharjeel Imam and their vote-bank politics over national security. Poonawala told ANI that the ecosystem in JNU always stands with anti-India elements.
Delhi Home Minister Ashish Sood similarly labeled the campus sloganeering unfortunate and condemnable. Sood noted that Sharjeel Imam talked about cutting off the Chicken’s Neck corridor to separate Northeast India.
Internal Party Rebellion and Enforcement Directorate Scrutiny
While Moitra addressed national issues on social media, her own party faced a widening internal rebellion. Veteran TMC leader Madan Mitra resigned from all TMC posts and joined the TMC rebel faction led by Ritabrata Banerjee. Moitra dismissed the defection as unsurprising, publicly linking Mitra’s move to ED summons issued to members of his family, including his wife, daughters-in-law, and sons.
Mahua Moitra remarked that it came as no surprise, noting that because his wife, daughters-in-law, and sons had been summoned by the ED the previous day, he had complied with the agency’s summons and gone on their invitation. She pointed out that someone who, just the day before yesterday, was standing and hurling abuses at Ritabrata’s faction was now going and sitting right next to Ritabrata, observing that this had happened upon the ED’s special invitation, wishing him good luck, good health, and a pleasant time working under Ritabrata’s group.
Her remarks came hours after Mitra formally joined the dissident faction led by Leader of Opposition Ritabrata Banerjee, adding to the widening rebellion against the Mamata Banerjee-Abhishek Banerjee leadership. The timing of Mitra’s switch has drawn attention as the ED on Tuesday summoned his wife and two sons in connection with the alleged municipal recruitment scam. Leaders aligned with Mamata Banerjee have alleged that central agencies are being used to pressure TMC leaders into leaving the party.
Simultaneously, senior TMC leader Anubrata Mondal launched a fresh attack on Abhishek Banerjee, alleging that he was responsible for Mondal’s imprisonment in the cattle smuggling case.
Anubrata Mondal questioned why and for whom he had been sent to jail, asserting that he was imprisoned because of Abhishek Banerjee.
Mondal made the statement while on his way to a meeting of the Ritabrata Banerjee-led faction, as reported by PTI. Mondal also claimed that Mamata Banerjee had called him four times after the party’s crushing defeat in the assembly elections.
Legal Perils and Parliamentary Expulsion Precedents
For Moitra herself, legal jeopardy remains a persistent theme. In a riveting episode of Rajat Sharma’s Aap Ki Adalat, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Nishikant Dubey dropped bombshells about his longstanding feud with Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, detailing the ‘cash-for-query’ allegations that triggered her Lok Sabha expulsion on his Ethics Committee complaint. Dubey painted a vivid picture of their interactions and the unrelenting legal storm ahead, framing it as an inescapable ‘party fight.’
Turning to the scandal, Nishikant Dubey warned of an imminent chargesheet, backed by Parliament’s expulsion, Supreme Court (SC) approval, and Lokpal scrutiny.
Nishikant Dubey warned that if the charges were proven, she would face seven years in prison alongside a six-year electoral ban, effectively wasting nearly 15 years of her professional career.
Dubey delivered a grim prognostication for his bête noire, and likened Mahua Moitra’s plight to his own, noting Jharkhand’s Hemant Soren government has unleashed 52 cases against him, his 87-year-old mother, wife and brother. Nishikant Dubey alleged that they had already squandered between Rs 60 and 70 crore on lawyers and litigation, underscoring the political weaponisation of probes.
Nishikant Dubey revealed recent encounters with Mahua Moitra, including a meeting at a wedding and multiple cross-party chats, with four or five intermediaries approaching him on her behalf. Nishikant Dubey recalled that she had met him during a wedding ceremony, explaining how he sought guidance from party seniors. They declared it party ki ladaai
post-Parliament’s decision, allowing talks but highlighting Dubey’s reputation as an unofficial party spokesperson. A leader advised him that no amount of temptation, coercion, or deceit could stop him and that the fight must continue, stalling any progress, prompting Dubey to note, Isliye baat aagey nahin badhi.
