‘Stick to your brief': Trinamool gets tough with Anubrata
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Kolkata: "Do not increase the party's unease, stick to your responsibilities and speak less" was the Trinamool leadership's message to Birbhum's warring netas Anubrata Mondal and Kajal Sheikh on Saturday, making it clear that the party's patience was thinning with their constant bickering.
TMC functionaries maintained that Mondal had been admonished enough for his abuse and threats at Bolpur IC Liton Halder, pointing out the selective outrage against Trinamool compared to CPM's radio silence on Anil Basu and Binoy Konar and BJP's on Kailash Vijayvargiya.
Mondal and Sheikh — who were in Kolkata to attend TMC's July 21 Martyrs' Day preparatory meet at the Bhowanipore party office — met party state president Subrata Bakshi, senior ministers Firhad Hakim and Aroop Biswas, and TMC's Birbhum chairperson and deputy speaker Asish Banerjee.
Sources said the two netas were told to stick to their responsibilities and not create roadblocks for each other, which would end up harming the party. They were asked to not do anything that brings disrepute to TMC and frustrates party workers. Mondal and Sheikh were also asked to speak less.
The TMC leadership's clear message was aimed at stopping the constant bickering between Mondal and Sheikh, the Birbhum zilla parishad chairperson.
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Mondal is based primarily in Bolpur; Sheikh in Nanoor.
The rivalry between the two netas goes back several years. Mondal was the party's Birbhum all-powerful district president till he was arrested and imprisoned for a year-and-a-half till his release in Sept 2024. In this interim, Trinamool had formed a five-member core committee, including Sheikh, to helm party affairs in his absence during the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
In 2024, TMC easily won the two LS seats Birbhum and Bolpur. After his release, Mondal was drafted in the core committee and asked to chair it but not given independent charge.
TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: "There can be differences of opinion anywhere, in a family or among friends. And here we are talking of a huge party like Trinamool. But whatever be it, we all revere and follow one leader,
Mamata Banerjee
, and work for Trinamool.
Nothing is bigger than that. In the end, everyone will fight for the party."
Party MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay said: "Whatever perceived differences that were, everything has been resolved."
Saturday's meeting also deliberated on the recent controversy surrounding the leaked audio tapes in which Mondal was heard threatening and abusing the Bolpur IC. Mondal questioned how and why the call was recorded and leaked and pointed out how his medical certificate to cops found its way to the media.
Mondal was reportedly asked to cool down.
Hakim said: "The party has strongly condemned abuses and misbehaviour. Anubrata was asked to issue a public apology and a personal apology (to the police officer) within four hours. The party acted strongly. But why is only Trinamool being asked about it, why aren't similar questions or outrages directed against CPM on Anil Basu and Binoy Konar and BJP on Kailash Vijayvargiya?"
TMC's state disciplinary committee head Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay also reiterated that the party had acted against Mondal.
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