MUMBAI: Veteran actor and politician Mithun Chakraborty has claimed that Gundaraj (mob rule) in West Bengal has ended for the good.
The actor recently spoke with the media during the Diwali celebrations in the state, and categorically denied the claims of mob rule gaining momentum in West Bengal, made by the opposition in the state.
He told the media, “What we have endured for 15 years. What can I say about it? He is saying that the goons are ruling. Have you ever seen such freedom? Why are you questioning? It has to be done”.
He further mentioned that the opposition doesn’t have any substantial issue to raise. Hence, they’re raising the issue of mob rule.
His statement comes amidst the claims of increased mob violence in the state. The TMC has raised the issues of mob intimidation, church vandalisms, denial of burial rights, and harassment in rural areas like Paschim Medinipur, South 24 Parganas.
“When you're in opposition, something has to be done. There is nothing left for them now. They say, ‘Kalighat Trinamool’. Does anything like this even exist? It's all over. It's all over, sir”, he added.
However, it’s worth to be noted that of the 15 years of the mob rule perpetrated by the Trinamool Congress (now in opposition after assembly elections), that the actor-politician spoke about, he himself was a part of TMC for close to 3 years. In fact, he was nominated for the Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament elections by the then Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee for her All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) in the West Bengal Rajya Sabha Assembly Polls, which were held on February 7, 2014.
He resigned as a Rajya Sabha MP on December 26, 2016, and went on to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2021, ahead of the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Kailash Vijayvargiya.
As a political figure, Mithun has covered the full spectrum of left to right. He was involved in the Naxalbari movement when he was young, he left the movement after his family suffered a crisis. He then went on to graduate from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), became a superstar, tried his luck in politics with great returns. Later, he joined TMC, which lies at the centre-left of the political spectrum, and is now in BJP, which is a right-leaning party.