Delhi: A fresh political controversy has erupted after Congress leader Supriya Shrinate publicly came out in support of Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra, following the circulation of alleged private chat screenshots on social media. The screenshots, which remain unverified, are being linked by some online users to Jan Suraaj Party chief Prashant Kishor, though their authenticity has not been established.
Supriya Shrinate strongly criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party and Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, accusing them of enabling a targeted smear campaign against a woman parliamentarian. In a post on social media, Shrinate said that spreading rumours and manipulated chat images is one of the worst forms of online harassment and called the attack shameful and dangerous.
She questioned why powerful women in politics are repeatedly subjected to character attacks and asked whether Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had any role in the viral posts. Shrinate referred to Mahua Moitra’s earlier claim that she was warned to delete her post related to the Epstein files or face consequences.
Mahua Moitra responded to Shrinate’s statement by confirming that she had indeed received a warning call. She stated that she was told that “people” would come after her if she did not remove her social media post. According to Moitra, the message was intended to silence her and intimidate her into backing down.
The controversy began earlier this week when Moitra shared screenshots of documents that allegedly showed email communication involving Hardeep Singh Puri and the late Jeffrey Epstein. After posting the material, Moitra claimed she received a phone call asking her to delete the post, along with a warning that further trouble could follow if she refused.
As the alleged chats began circulating widely online, Moitra took legal action and filed FIRs against several X accounts for sharing and reposting what she described as fake and sexually motivated content. The screenshots being circulated reportedly show messages from an iCloud account bearing Prashant Kishor’s name, but the identity of the other participant and the source of the leak remain unknown.
Despite the lack of verification, social media speculation intensified, prompting Moitra to issue a strong warning that those spreading false content would face criminal action under Indian law. She accused unnamed individuals of using misinformation and character assassination as political tools.
