Kolkata, July 15 (IANS) Trinamool leader Anubrata Mondal, who recently joined the rebel camp of Trinamool Congress, on Wednesday claimed that he had to go to jail because of party MP Abhishek Banerjee.

The Birbhum Trinamool leader was in Kolkata to meet the rebels, but the majority faction of Trinamool Congress leaders led by Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Ritabrata Banerjee.

Anubrata Mondal said, “Why did I go to jail? For whom did I go? For Abhishek Banerjee.”

When media persons asked in which camp he is currently in, Mondal said, “Ritabrata is also a Trinamool, I am also a Trinamool. I was with Mamata Banerjee for a long time. I was there from the beginning. I am still in the Trinamool.”

Mondal also claimed that he had told Mamata Banerjee four times to remove Abhishek Banerjee from the party. He said he told her that she doesn’t see with her eyes, hear with her ears, and urged her to correct herself and remove Abhishek from the party, but nothing was done.

It may be noted that Anubrata Mondal was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a cow smuggling case in August 2022. Anubrata was in Delhi’s Tihar Jail for a long time before getting bail in July 2024. This time, he put the responsibility of that imprisonment on Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool MP from Diamond Harbour.

After returning from jail in the cow smuggling case, Anubrata was no longer seen playing an active role in Birbhum politics. His conflict with Kajal Sheikh also came to light.

Anubrata claimed that he was removed from election-related responsibilities and ordered not to campaign. His anger against Mamata Banerjee’s faction of Trinamool Congress was growing for various reasons.

After the defeat of Trinamool in the Assembly elections, he let go of Mamata’s hand. Anubrata had earlier spoken out against Abhishek for the party’s debacle.

He blamed Trinamool’s political consultancy firm, I-PAC, for taking money from everyone. In exchange for money, it was ensured who would get the election ticket. This time, Anubrata directly blamed Abhishek for his imprisonment.

Trinamool’s Kamarhati MLA Madan Mitra, who joined the rebel camp earlier in the day, also agreed with his words. Mitra claimed that many had to go to jail because of Abhishek.

According to him, those who did not pay the money served the jail term.

–IANS

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