BOLPUR: Following orders of the Election Commission, a magistrate tailed Birbhum’s Trinamool Congress president Anubrata Mondal on Saturday but the feared leader remained defiant; he locked all the doors and windows of party offices and held meetings, challenging the EC to restrain him.
“Do you have any written orders? I will visit all TMC party offices in all the 11 Assembly seats here and then only return. Who are you to order me?,” he asked the magistrate.
“Tomorrow is vote festival and drums will start beating from tonight. All our workers are ready and ‘goor batasha’ (jaggery sweet) is ready for the opposition party poll agents. The central forces might be ready but I am also ready to ensure victory of all our nominees,” he said in a defiant tone.
The EC videographer recorded Anubrata’s movements as he entered a TMC office at Rampurhat and downed the shutters, with his six police guards armed with SLRs standing outside. The helpless magistrate kept pleading and asking him to return to his own Assembly constituency but he refused. Reports poured in about TMC cadre allegedly dressed in battle fatigues and masquerading as central security forces beating up several opposition party workers in various parts of the district.
During the 2011 Assembly polls, swept by the TMC led by chief minister Mamata Banerjee, the party won seven out of 11 seats while Congress and Left won two seats each. This time Anubrata has promised “all 11 seats to Didi”.
The EC again served a show cause notice on Anubrata on Saturday but he seemed to care little. He questioned: “Who has the guts to restrain me? I will visit all my party offices and decide what to do. I have to instruct my party workers. Let the magistrate tail me.”
Locals fear there would be wanton violence on Sunday during polling. Opposition parties’ local leaders alleged that the TMC had deputed known criminals to terrorise voters. “The mafia which rule the stone quarries and the illegal sand mines sponsor the police which is acting at the TMC’s behest. It doesn’t matter if the district police chief has been changed by the EC. The local policemen are on their payroll,” they alleged.
On Ajoy river, machines illegally refine sand and are loaded on to trucks to be transported to Kolkata, 180 kms away. There are some armed people supervising the operations and they refuse to talk.
A local villager is too scared to talk but said, “Each day the earnings are not less than `2 lakh as the sand loaded is free and the district administration has no control over the banks of this river.
“Anubrata’s men control this racket and the money goes to the coffers of the ruling party. Earlier, when CPI(M) was in power, the cash landed up at party offices. We are poor and remain silent. There have been factional feuds within TMC and many were killed,” he alleged. Several TMC workers in Birbhum have in fact been killed in gang fights. In fact, Anubrata is not worried about the Opposition during polling on Sunday but people of his own party who are opposed to him and attempt to embarrass him by defeating TMC nominees. More than 3,000 TMC workers joined the CPI(M) in presence of party Lok Sabha MP Mohammad Salim at a public meeting on Friday and some TMC insiders said, “Kajal Sheikh’s hand was behind it.” Kajal Sheikh is a known opponent of Anubrata within the TMC and his brother Sheikh Shahnaz is a TMC MLA from adjoining Burdwan district.
Promising a clean sweep
During the 2011 Assembly polls, swept by TMC, the party won seven out of 11 seats while the Congress and Left won two seats each. This time Anubrata Mondal has promised “all 11 seats to Didi”.
EC Notice Has No Effect
The Election Commision again served a show cause notice on Anubrata on Saturday but Mondal cared little. The EC videographer recorded Anubrata’s movements as he entered a TMC office at Rampurhat and downed the shutters with his six police guards armed with SLRs standing outside. The helpless magistrate kept pleading and asking him to return to his own Assembly constituency but he refused.
