West Bengal politician Mahua Moitra said 'eggs' are her source of energy

By: Rahul Adhikari
April 19 2024

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Social media posts incorrectly state that Mahua Moitra said "sex" is her source of energy. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

What is the claim?

A video of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mahua Moitra campaigning ahead of the general elections in India is being shared on social media widely. The clip shows a reporter asking Moitra a question about her “source of energy”. Several users sharing the clip claim that the TMC leader responded with the word “sex” as her answer to the question. 

As Moitra, who is contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from the Krishnanagar constituency in West Bengal, answers the question, the reporter can be heard laughing. 

Several social media users shared the video on X (formerly Twitter) with captions intended to mock her. One such post by Arun Pudur, a user who has been called out for sharing misinformation on various occasions, shared the video with a caption, “Bengali Hindus, is this the kind of MP you want to represent your great state?” Pudur has since deleted his post, but an archive can be seen here.

Archived versions of several other posts can be seen here, here, here, and here.

Screenshots of the viral posts. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

However, the claims are false. On being questioned about her source of energy, Moitra says “eggs”. We slowed down the raw version of the video and could clearly hear her say that. Further, Tamal Saha, the reporter who shot the interview also took to X to clarify the same. 

How did we find the truth?

We reviewed the video and noticed a logo at the bottom-right corner that read “NTT”, which is a news portal run by journalist Tamal Saha. The viral clip has been taken from an interview published on his official YouTube channel.  

The video “I am Unapologetic: TMC Mahua Moitra in Conversation with Tamal Saha” is over 37 minutes long. At the 2:35-minute mark of the interview, the journalist asks Moitra, “What’s your source of energy?” To this, the TMC leader says, “Eggs, eggs”.

At this point, the journalist laughs and Moitra says, “It’s true”. Then the video jumps to another shot where Saha asks her about her fitness quotient. 

Logically Facts also reached out to Moitra, who shared the original footage of that portion with us and clarified that she said "eggs". On reviewing a slowed down version of this footage, we were able to confirm that Moitra indeed said "eggs" and not "sex".

Journalist issues clarification

After the video went viral, Saha posted on X that Moitra actually said “eggs”. He stated, “Let me clarify, since this is my interview. I asked @MahuaMoitra: What’s your source of energy in the morning. Mahua Moitra replied: EGGS …(anda, dim) (sic).” He also claimed the right-wing social media users had "distorted" the audio. 

Replying to another post, Saha reiterated that Moitra had said “eggs”. He confirmed the same to us over a phone conversation.

The verdict

A clip from Mahua Moitra’s interview was shared with a false claim that she said “sex” is her source of energy, but, in reality, she said “eggs”. We have reviewed the original footage and the journalist who took the interview has also clarified the same.