After an anxious wait for Mamata Banerjee to finish her speech, the biryani party began at Shiraz in Mullick Bazar.

" Didi kichhu boleni... chhelera phone kore bollo (Didi hasn't said anything... the boys said over the phone)," a syndicate leader from Rajarhat said with a big smile, a meat bone sticking out of his mouth.

A few hours ago, he and a few other syndicate operatives were a worried lot. " Jani na Didi ki bolbe... sabai bhoyey achhey. Amio khub tension -e aachhi. Kharap time jachchhe amader (We don't know what Didi will say... Everyone is scared. Even I'm tensed. The times are bad)," the leader had said while boarding a car.

Metro on Thursday travelled with a carful of syndicate operatives from New Town to Victoria House for "Didir michhil (Didi's rally)".

Everyone kept their fingers crossed about what Mamata might say about syndicates. One of the men in reflective sunglasses said: " Ki je hobey (What will happen)?"

The vehicle of choice was a Swift Dzire and not the usual Scorpio because Mamata doesn't like big cars at such gatherings.

Another tried to sound reassuring: "Didi won't do anything that would harm so many young people."

But not everyone was convinced. "God knows," said one.

The men are among those whose approval is a must to start construction in New Town, Rajarhat and surrounding areas. And the approval comes only if one buys construction material from them, hires their men and pays "protection money".

Some of their friends are now behind bars - two of them on the charge of demanding Rs 60 lakh from the builders of a project near Chinar Park.

"Do you think the arrangements are adequate?" the syndicate leader asked, pointing to a long row of parked buses and cars in New Town.

"I think Dada will be happy that we could arrange so many men and women in the midst of a crisis (the multiple arrests and police raids)," a syndicate member said.

"The times are bad. I have asked many of my boys to hide in Digha and Puri," the leader said. "The police raids are worrying... I don't want them to get arrested. We would have needed 15 more buses to ferry them if they were in the city."

When Metro asked if he felt more of his "boys" would be arrested, the leader said: "I have drawn up a list of my men whom the police might pick up. I have sent many of them, against whom complaints have been lodged, to places outside Calcutta.... Bhabtei parini police aamar chheleder tulbe (Never thought cops would go after my boys)."

Speaking about the police crackdown on clubs in Rajarhat and New Town, he said cops had crossed the limit. "If they don't take money, how will they run the clubs' gymnasiums? All the clubs organise so many social welfare activities... blood donation camps. They give blankets to the poor in winter. Where do you think this money comes from?"

What about syndicates controlling clubs in the Rajarhat-Gopalpur belt.

"Members of these clubs are mostly unemployed. If you don't let the syndicates function what will they do?" the leader asked.

At Esplanade, as Mamata urged party members to ensure that urban local bodies and panchayats worked properly, the leader signalled his men to move out.

"I don't know what she will say. I am scared... I can't take it anymore," he said while walking towards the car parked on Central Avenue. Once everyone had boarded the car, the driver headed for Park Circus as the leader kept phoning "volunteers" for updates.

Around 2.20pm, the mood suddenly changed. " Didi kichhu boleni... the national anthem has just started," a syndicate member said.

The leader said he was "so relieved" and phoned someone, possibly a cop. " Dada, ektu dekben. Khub merechhe... barir lok bollo (Dada, please look into the matter. His family says he was badly beaten up)."

Then it was party time: biryani, firni and soft drink.

Arrests

Two men were arrested late on Wednesday on extortion charges. Rafique Gazi, 34, and Ismail Gazi, 29, were picked up on the basis of a complaint lodged by a builder in Chinar Park last year.

A complaint against Shah Nawaz Ali (Dumpy) Mondal, chairman, Borough 1, Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation, was lodged with airport police station on Thursday. Anup Prasad Sharma said in his complaint that Mondal and his men had demanded money from him when he tried to move into a house in Baby Park in the airport area in 2015, an officer said. The complaint specifically says Mondal made the extortion attempt. 

Mondal denied being involved in any wrongdoing. “I have heard about the police complaint. I don’t know Sharma, so I can’t say why he has lodged the complaint,” he told Metro.