In the panchayat elections, violence in Bhangar, which is a predominantly Muslim area, and the local anger against Arabul forced the TMC to bring in MLA Saokat Molla to oversee the local organisation. Molla, the Canning Purba MLA, is another heavyweight leader from the minority community in South 24 Parganas.

But that was not enough as the ISF, in alliance with the CPI(M) and a local anti-land acquisition committee, gave the TMC a run for its money. Of the 218 seats in 10 gram panchayats of Bhangar-II block, the TMC won from 86 without a contest. Of the 132 seats that went to polls, the TMC won 63, the ISF 43, the Jomi Jibika Bastutantra Poribesh Rokkha Committee 18, the CPI(M) seven, and one seat was bagged by an Independent. This came two years after the party lost the Bhangar Assembly constituency.

With the Lok Sabha elections approaching and the stakes much higher, the TMC leadership did not want Arabul to spoil the party’s chances. Removing him from the equation allows the party to give Molla free rein in Bhangar, which is part of the crucial Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency and in 2019 gave a massive lead to the party.

“Bhangar comes under the Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency,” said a senior TMC leader. “Current MP Mimi Chakraborty got a lead of more than one lakh votes from Bhangar. But, given the situation in the last panchayat election, party leaders understood that the situation was precarious. The leadership wants Bhangar to be controlled by Soakat Molla but it would have been impossible had Arabul been there. We think that is why he was arrested.”

A controversial figure

In 2012, a professor at Bhangar College filed a complaint against Arabul for allegedly assaulting her — he was accused of throwing a water jug at her — and an FIR was lodged against the TMC leader. The following year, in January, the strongman was arrested for the first time and charged with attempted murder. He was accused of setting ablaze vehicles belonging to CPI(M) supporters protesting the assault on party leader and former minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah. In 2014, the TMC expelled the former MLA because of two deaths in an intra-party rivalry but he was reinstated two years later. In May 2018, he was arrested for another murder during the panchayat elections that year.

But despite his strong-arm tactics, Arabul did not manage to regain the Assembly election ticket from Bhangar. In 2016, Abduar Rezzak Mollah won the constituency on a TMC ticket. Five years later, the party chose Dr Rezaul Karim, another former CPI(M) leader, over Arabul. This sparked a fight within the party and Karim lost the election to ISF’s Naushad Siddiqui, exposing the TMC’s tenuous hold on the area.

BJP and CPM target Trinamool

The Opposition, meanwhile, accused the ruling party of attempting to hoodwink the Election Commission (EC) before any action could be taken against Arabul before the parliamentary elections. “He will be brought out on bail just before the polls. All these are planned. The arrest was made before the EC took any action,” said Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP.

The CPI(M) pointed out that the former MLA had been arrested and expelled from the TMC earlier too but had been accepted in the ruling party’s ranks. “It all depends on Didi’s (Mamata Banerjee) wish when people like Arabul will be arrested or released,” said CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty.

The TMC, however, claimed that the police followed their “raj dharma” by making the arrest. “The law will decide whether he is guilty or innocent. But this proves that the Opposition’s allegation that the police do not take action against anyone in the ruling party is not true,” said ruling party spokesperson Kunal Ghosh.