Ask just about anyone in Birbhum about Anubrata Mondal and they will tell you, “Nothing happens in Birbhum without his blessing.” The sentence is often said with respect and fear in the same breath. That is the power and influence that Trinamool Congress strongman and one of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s closest aides Anubrata Mondal wields in the area.
...and he wields this power without ever having contested a single election or holding a government post.
Mondal, 62 has been remanded to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody till 20 August by a special CBI court after he was arrested on 11 August in a 2020 cattle smuggling case. He was taken to the Kolkata CBI office at Nizam Palace.
A team of CBI officials escorted by a contingent of central armed forces personnel arrested Mondal on Thursday morning.
The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) said that it was keeping a close watch on the issue.
Stating that the party has "zero tolerance" over corruption and wrongdoings, MP Santanu Sen said, "The party will take an appropriate decision at the right time. But, we want to make it clear that TMC will not compromise on any instance of corruption."
Simultaneously, the party also called the BJP out for using central agencies to harass regional parties. The party will also be organizing statewide protests to oppose the actions of the CBI and ED.
The Man Behind The Scenes
Born to a family of farmers in the land of Tagore, Mondal was the first of five-siblings. Starting out as a fish trader but has always been politically active. His skills were noticed by a local youth Congress leader in the early nineties, who introduced him to a young Mamata Banerjee, who herself was rising the ranks in Bengal politics.
He was one of the leaders who walked out of the Congress to with Banerjee to form the Trinamool Congress in 1998. He was made the TMC’s district president in Birbhum in 2000 and has been holding onto that position ever since.
Beyond his exceptional ability to organize and mobilize the masses, Mondal would also stand toe-to-toe and oppose the Left in their erstwhile citadel of Birbhum. That citadel now belongs to him. A quick look at his house in Birbhum will tell you who runs the show there.
Locals talk about how ‘Keshto Da’, as he is affectionately called, has always stood by those who had opposed and suffered during the Left rule. He has been a mass leader, with his influence spreading over Birbhum, Purba and Paschim Bardhaman.
TMC winning 11 out of 12 seats from Birbhum in the 2021 Assembly elections can be credited to him.
Mondal has always played a key role in the party’s expansion strategies, owing to his organisational skills. Recently he was also made a part of the party’s national working committee.
Some even opine that despite Mondal wields more power and influence than Partha Chatterjee and many other state ministers.
This is probably why the party and especially Mamata Banerjee has always defended him vehemently in public.
Mondal suffers from hypoxia and usually travels with an oxygen cylinder.
From One Controversy to Another
Mondal finds himself in the centre of controversy, every now and then. In 2022 itself, he has not only been summoned numerous times by the CBI for interrogation in the alleged cattle-smuggling scam but has also been accused of being involved in the incident at Bogtui which claimed 10 lives.
Earlier in 2021, he was named by the CBI in the post-poll violence in the state. Mondal however had been skipping summons by central agencies citing health reasons.
While he has not been named in CBI chargesheet in the cattle-smuggling case, his bodyguard Saigal Hossain has been. He has been accused of collecting money. Mondal has been accused by the CBI of benefitting from that money.
Opposition leaders have often called Birbhum a hub of scams with Mondal being at the centre of it – from the alleged cattle smuggling scam to the alleged coal and sand mining scam. He has rarely been tried in any of the cases.
A law unto himself in one of Bengal’s most violence-prone areas, Mondal was accused by local opposition leaders of not allowing them to file nominations in the 2018 panchayat elections. In fact, the TMC candidates won in many areas without a contest.
He has also been accused of murder on one occassion.
He has also been accused of giving provocative speeches asking TMC workers to ‘hurl bombs’ at houses of opposition leaders, threatening police, asking police to incriminate opposition leaders in false cases. The list goes on.
Arresting Anubrata Mondal
After the Trinamool Congress' Birbhum district president ignored ten consecutive summons from the CBI, the agency decided not to wait anymore. A team of CBI officials led by the agency's Superintendent (anti-corruption branch), Rajeev Mishra, along with the team of central armed forces personnel, reached Bolpur late Wednesday night.
Around 9:50 am on Thursday, the team of CBI and central armed personnel reached Mondal's residence. The central armed forces cordoned off the entire residential building from all points. Thereafter, the CBI officials were divided into two teams. One team entered the residence from the main front gate, while the other entered through the other gate at the backside of the building.
It is learnt that the CBI team was also carrying a court order with them that empowered them to conduct search operations at Mondal's residence.
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