Trinamul Congress MP Sunil Mondal reportedly pushed and threatened a toll plaza employee when his car was stopped at the facility's VIP lane in East Burdwan's Palsit on Thursday.
The Burdwan East MP's act became public after CCTV footage of the incident surfaced on social media platforms, drawing censure from netizens, civil society members and Opposition leaders.
Though the MP initially tried to downplay the incident, which left his party embarrassed, and challenged the charge levelled against him on Thursday night, he sought an unconditional apology on Friday after the CCTV footage became public.
The footage shows that around 1.15pm on Thursday, Mondal's car came to a halt at the exit point of the VIP lane of the Palsit toll plaza on the Durgapur Expressway in East Burdwan. The car had to halt as traffic cones were placed on the path. A source said traffic cones were usually placed because many vehicles try to avoid toll tax by using the VIP lane.
The video showed that after the car came to a halt, toll plaza employee Ujjwal Singh Sardar, wearing an orange jacket, came to remove one of the traffic cones in front of the MP's vehicle. Then, Mondal suddenly came out of his car, tried to slap the toll plaza employee and pushed him away by holding his throat.
"He tried to slap me and caught my throat before pushing me. I almost fell and somehow managed to break the fall. He threatened me that he would tell the authorities to throw me out of the job," said Sardar.
Mondal, who did not refute the contents of the video, claimed what he did was "in the heat of the moment" as he was in a hurry to attend the inauguration of a hospital at Mangalkote in East Burdwan.
"I pushed him in the heat of the moment after he stopped my car. The employee is known to me but he was asking questions even after seeing me inside (the car). That is why I came out of my car. I am really sorry for my act and seek unconditional apology for my behaviour," Mondal told The Telegraph on Friday evening.
"I was returning from Delhi and was in a big hurry to reach the Mangalkote hospital that was to be virtually inaugurated by our chief minister on Thursday," the Trinamul MP added.
Mondal admitted: “I was angry when I saw the employee asking my driver several questions because he knew me. But if I meet him again, I will apologise to him personally.”
The incident was picked up by Opposition leaders to attack the ruling Trinamul.
“Sunil Mondal, another example of TMC’s idea of a “gentleman”, beat up a dutiful young man for doing his job correctly. We condemn such rampant and unrestricted atrocities of TMC-backed leaders on the people of Bengal,” BJP state president Sukanta Majumdar wrote in his X-thread (previously Twitter).
CPM leader and state secretary of All India Kisan Sabha Amal Halder said only such behaviour was expected from a person like Mondal.
“It is nothing new to us that the MP misbehaved with common people. It is expected that a person like Mondal will act in this manner and beat up a worker,” Halder said.
The MP did not get support from his party either.
A senior Trinamul leader in Calcutta said such behaviour was an embarrassment for the party. “This loss of face was not required for the party. There was no reason for the MP to heckle the toll plaza employee. Senior party leaders asked the MP to seek an apology.”
Trinamul spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: “It would have been better if he (Mondal) could avoid what he did on Thursday. However, the controversy should stop now as he has already sought an apology.”
