The blue two-storied home in the coronary heart of Bolpur city, the epicentre of all political exercise in the district until eight months again, wears a abandoned look. A number of policemen nonetheless guard the home which has a small nameplate with a number of names together with that of Anubrata Mondal.
Last August, the Trinamool Congress strongman Anubrata Mondal was arrested for his alleged involvement in the cattle smuggling rip-off. He is now lodged at Delhi’s Tihar Jail. On April 26, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested his daughter Sukanya Mondal in reference to the cattle smuggling rip-off on allegations of cash laundering. She stays in ED custody in Delhi.
The proven fact that the police are offering safety to a home in which nobody lives, highlights the political significance of the home.
Even after an eight-month absence, Anubrata Mondal is central to the politics of the district. He stays the Birbhum district president of the occasion and in his absence, the occasion has arrange a nine-member committee for organisational work. In March, occasion chairperson Mamata Banerjee took cost of the occasion organisation in the district.
The Bolpur occasion workplace, about hundred metres from Mr. Mondal’s residence, greets guests with a single billboard with images of each Mamata Banerjee and Anubrata Mondal. There are images of the arrested Trinamool chief all over the place in the occasion workplace— Anubrata addressing a public gathering; Anubrata and Mamata Banerjee collectively in one other body. There are two such images of Anubrata Mondal on the staircase and 4 inside a room on the primary flooring.
On a Friday afternoon, none of the senior occasion leaders is current in the occasion workplace; solely a handful of staff mill across the entrance of the occasion workplace, maintaining a word of guests in a register.
The arrest of Anubrata Mondal has made the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hopeful in the district. Union Home Minister launched the marketing campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha ballot from Birbhum on April 14 when he set a goal of 35 of 42 seats for his occasion.
In 2019, the BJP had gained 18 seats. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has over the previous few months hardly missed a possibility to take potshots at each Anubrata Mondal and public conferences; he usually warns different Trinamool leaders that they may undergo an identical destiny.
A day after Sukanya Mondal was arrested, Mr. Adhikari was in Bolpur. He taunted that the Trinamool management had assured the occasion strongman’s daughter that nothing would occur to her, however regardless of their assurance, she was arrested.
Popularised ‘Khela Hobe’ slogan
The Birbhum district has been politically unstable over the previous few years and several other incidents of political violence have rocked the district. Last yr in March, 10 individuals had been burnt alive in Bogtui village in a retaliatory killing of an area Trinamool chief. Every time such a violence occurred, fingers had been pointed at Anubrata Mondal.
In the 2018 panchayat ballot, 34% seats in the district had been gained uncontested by the ruling occasion and on being requested why the Opposition was unable to subject candidates, the Trinamool chief quipped that “development ( unnayan) was standing on the streets”.
Anubrata Mondal, who popularised the ‘Khela Hobe (Game is on)‘ slogan for the 2021 Assembly poll, was known to speak in political innuendos, making him popular in party circles of the State. Memes and emojis featuring the Trinamool strongman had become a rage on social media. Along with his popularity, Anubrata Mondal had become indispensable for the party organisation and in his absence, the Trinamool is experiencing a void.
“Keshto (Anubrata Mondal) would not only control the district but his influence also was well-known in parts of Murshidabad and Bardhaman. The challenge before the party leadership including those assigned tasks is to win the rural poll,” a former councillor and a Trinamool leader from Bolpur said. Sources within the party said teams of IPAC (Indian Political Action Committee) were closely working in the district to prevent any factionalism costing the party in the upcoming poll.
Fate undecided
Though the Trinamool leadership, particularly Ms. Banerjee, has repeatedly backed Anubrata Mondal so far, his fate remains uncertain. Investigating agencies have seized nearly ₹16 crore from bank accounts of associates and family members of the Trinamool leader. The allegations also include the Birbhum Trinamool leader using lotteries to convert black money into white with him getting lucky twice, with lotteries of ₹80 lakh and ₹52 lakh.
Sources in the party said that days before her arrest, Sukanya Mondal had a meltdown and called up leaders in the party to say that they had disappeared since the arrest of her father. The ED had, a month ago, arrested Anubrata Mondal’s chartered accountant Manish Kothari.
But with political temperatures hovering, the extra vital query is whether or not the Trinamool shall be in a position to maintain on to Birbhum in the upcoming panchayat ballot and the Lok Sabha ballot.
In 2019, when the BJP gained nearly all of the seats in north Bengal and south west Bengal, it was in Birbhum that they misplaced each the Lok Sabha seats and past Birbhum in the southern half of the State. The Trinamool gained all 20 seats, taking their tally to 22. As the Lok Sabha ballot attracts close to, the Trinamool is more and more feeling the absence of its key organiser and trusted chief.
“Keshto (Anubrata Mondal) would not only control the district but his influence also was well-known in parts of Murshidabad and Bardhaman”Trinamool chief, Bolpur
