Who is Anubrata Mondal, Mamata Banerjee's aide arrested by CBI?

What do we know about Mamata Banerjee's close aide and TMC strongman Anubrata Mondal? From popularising "Khela Hobe" to spouting hate speech on opposition politicians and police.

Anubrata Mondal, a Trinamool Congress official and close associate of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on August 11 in connection with a case involving the smuggling of cattle in 2020.

Mondal had been called several times by the central investigation agency before being picked up, but he failed to show due to health problems. The central agency had already interrogated him twice as part of its investigation into the livestock smuggling case.

Anubrata Mondal is TMC's Birbhum district president. He is reportedly one of Mamata Banerjee's closest advisers in West Bengal. Mondal, 61, has a lot of sway in Birbhum and assisted the Trinamool Congress in fortifying its hold there. The TMC now owns 10 of Birbhum's 11 assembly seats.

He goes by the nickname "Keshto da" and is a devoted supporter of Mamata. A position in the TMC national working committee was provided to him as compensation for his allegiance to the party leader. He helped spread the TMC's rallying cry, "Khela Hobe," which was created before the West Bengal Assembly elections in 2021. By a wide margin, Mamata's party won the poll. Due to his hypoxia, Mondal always has oxygen cylinders with him.

Interestingly, despite being active in politics for nearly three decades, Mondal has never run for office. He is one of the primary players in developing the TMC's expansion plan and likes to operate in the background.