Mahua Moitra marries Pinaki Misra: TMC, BJD leaders say it was ‘in the offing for a while’

KOLKATA/BHUBANESWAR: Trinamool Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra tied the knot with former BJD MP Pinaki Misra on May 30 in a quiet ceremony in Berlin. The couple is expected to return to India by the end of June.Read also: Who is Mahua Moitra’s husband Pinaki Misra? All about four-time MP from PuriAfter photographs of Moitra's wedding went viral on social media, the MP on Thursday evening posted on her X handle, "Thank you everyone for the love and good wishes!! So grateful."News of the wedding, kept under wraps for nearly a week, broke on social media with multiple photographs of the Berlin wedding. According to party sources, Moitra had informed the party leadership about her wedding and took permission from the party to go to Germany. This was imperative because the Election Commission had announced June 19 as the bypoll date for Nadia's Kaliganj assembly seat. Kaliganj falls within Moitra's Krishnanagar LS constituency.According to sources, Mahua and Misra have known each other for a long time but have been in a formal relationship only recently. The couple had also been abroad together. When contacted, Moitra or Misra did not respond to TOI's calls and texts.Trinamool national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee wrote on X, "Heartfelt congratulations! Wishing you both endless happiness and a strong partnership as you start this wonderful new chapter together."MP Saayoni Ghosh and MLA June Malia posted a photograph with Mahua and Misra. "Congratulations Mm & Pm…Mahua Moitra, Pinaki Misra, wishing you a lifetime of love and laughter!" Saayoni wrote. "Here's wishing you both a very happy and blissful wedded life," Malia wrote.Asked about the wedding, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh earlier told reporters, "Our best wishes. Heartfelt best wishes."A TMC senior said, "It (the wedding) was a personal ceremony. Both (Moitra and Misra) didn't want to make it public." Sources said the event was attended by close family members and some trusted friends. They described the ceremony as elegant and traditional, with Moitra seen in richly embroidered bridal attire. A BJD senior said, "It was in the offing for a while. They are a couple now."Moitra did her graduation in Massachusetts and worked as an investment banker with JPMorganChase in London. She quit her job to join Congress in 2009 in Rahul Gandhi's ‘Aam Aadmi Ki Sipahi'. In the UK, she got married to Danish financier Lars Brorson and separated later. In 2010, she joined Trinamool. In 2016, she entered the poll fray, winning the Karimpur assembly seat. In 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections, she won from Krishnanagar.Misra, born in 1959, is a seasoned politician and a senior advocate of the Supreme Court. He has a son and a daughter from his previous marriage. In his poll affidavit in 2019, Misra declared assets of more than Rs 117 crore and was the richest Lok Sabha nominee then. He was elected from Puri on a Congress ticket in 1996 and reelected as a BJD nominee in 2009, 2014 and 2019.