SRINAGAR: A social media post by Srinagar MP Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi has triggered a political controversy after Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Mahua Moitra used it to raise questions about what she described as “bulldozer politics”, while also attacking former cricketer-turned-politician Yusuf Pathan for joining a rebellion within the party.
During the last winter session of Parliament the entire opposition was protesting against SIR and other issues in the house. Like always the @AITCofficial MPs were in the well taking lead and protesting fearlessly. I was there and I heard a prominent Muslim MP (not from TMC)…
— Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi (@RuhullahMehdi) June 15, 2026
In a post on X, Ruhullah recounted an incident from the previous winter session of Parliament when opposition parties were protesting against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and other issues inside the House.
According to the Srinagar MP, TMC legislators were leading the protest in the Well of the House when a prominent Muslim MP from outside the party allegedly approached Yusuf Pathan and urged him to withdraw from the demonstration.
Ruhullah claimed that Pathan subsequently returned to his seat looking visibly shaken. When asked what had happened, Pathan allegedly told him that he had been warned against protesting the BJP and was told that doing so could result in authorities bulldozing his house in Gujarat.
The Kashmir MP further said that Mahua Moitra later joined the conversation and reassured Pathan that the TMC stood firmly behind him and his family. Referring to Pathan’s later political actions, Ruhullah wrote that Moitra and the party had supported him only to be “stabbed in the back”.
The remarks came a day after 20 rebel TMC Lok Sabha MPs announced their decision to merge with the National Citizens Party of India (NCPI), deepening the crisis within the party. Pathan, who won the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat on a TMC ticket in 2024, is among the prominent faces associated with the rebellion.
Sharing Ruhullah’s post, Mahua Moitra described the alleged warning as evidence of “bulldozer politics” and questioned whether fear of such action had influenced Pathan’s political conduct.
Moitra subsequently claimed that the warning had been issued by Asaduddin Owaisi. She also launched a sharp attack on Pathan, accusing him of lacking the courage to stand by the party that had supported him.
The controversy has drawn additional attention because of an ongoing legal dispute involving Pathan in Gujarat. Earlier this week, the Gujarat High Court granted the MP four weeks to pursue his claim over a parcel of land in Vadodara under a state policy, while cautioning that he could face increased damages for continuing to occupy the property during the dispute.
Pathan had challenged a government decision rejecting his request for allotment of nearly 978 square metres of municipal land in Vadodara. Despite the rejection, he continued to occupy the plot and later challenged an eviction notice issued by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation.
Meanwhile, the rebel TMC faction, led by Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, has approached Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking recognition as a separate parliamentary group following its planned merger with the NCPI.
