Anubrata Mondal under ‘strict watch’ till 7am Friday, may move Calcutta HC – Times of India

The Election Commission has put Trinamool Congress’ Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal under the “strict surveillance” of an executive magistrate and the central forces for 62 hours from 5pm on Tuesday. Eleven assembly seats in Birbhum go to polls on April 29.

BOLPUR/KOLKATA: The Election Commission has put Trinamool Congress’ Birbhum district president Anubrata Mondal under the “strict surveillance” of an executive magistrate and the central forces for 62 hours from 5pm on Tuesday. Eleven assembly seats in Birbhum go to polls on April 29.
The EC, in its directive, stated that the vigil on Mondal will continue till 7am on April 30. Chief electoral officer of Bengal Aariz Aftab has been told that there have been “serious complaints” against Mondal and the steps were based on the reports of the Birbhum DM and SP Nagendranath Tripathi. The latter was posted in the district on April 20 following his role in Nandigram.
The order categorically said that Mondal be kept under “strict surveillance round the clock”. Unlike in 2019, his cellphone has not been taken away from him. Mondal called the EC order ‘routine’. “I knew this. The poll panel did it twice before,” he said, but chose not to reply directly on whether he would move court against the order.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee had on Saturday, during a meeting in Bolpur, expressed her apprehensions about such a move by the EC and urged Mondal to move Calcutta High Court, saying “house arrest” orders were illegal. Mondal said he was in “talks with the party” on the EC order. Party sources suggested he may move court on Wednesday.
Earlier, the BJP had lodged a complaint against Mondal with the EC over his alleged comments against the central forces. Mondal’s reported remarks about “a dangerous game” also kicked up controversy.
The Trinamool leader reached the Bolpur party office on Tuesday afternoon, soon after the EC order, and stayed put till 5pm holding meetings with party workers. “The people of Birbhum will give a fitting reply to this EC order, which is meant to harass me. This will not help the BJP. They cannot defeat Trinamool Congress by keeping me under vigil,” Mondal said, adding that he would supervise the polling process on Thursday even while under surveillance.
Tuesday’s development came hours after the Trinamool leader did not respond to CBI summons in connection with a cattle smuggling case. Mondal cited ill health and the Covid situation to urge the CBI to reschedule his appearance at the agency’s Nizam Palace office.
The CBI summons is the second notice served on him. The income tax department too has asked him to submit his documents at the earliest after claims that he had properties in his name in Purulia and Bankura. Mondal has already denied the claims and called it “a gimmick and witch-hunt”.
State BJP spokesperson Shamik Bhattacharya was sarcastic over Mondal “skipping a CBI interrogation” on health grounds. It is good that the EC is keeping strict vigil on him; it will keep him safe in this pandemic, Bhattacharya said.
Trinamool spokesman Kunal Ghosh said their party would win regardless of whether Mondal was kept under surveillance. “The EC has lost credibility and is functioning like a BJP tool with Narendra Modi and Amit Shah issuing orders,” Ghosh added.