Bolpur, April 17: Birbhum Trinamul chief Anubrata Mondal was under the surveillance of the Election Commission throughout the day as the district voted. Sitting in the party office in Bolpur since morning, Anubrata made numerous phone calls to colleagues across Birbhum. The deputy magistrate, videographer and central forces deputed by the commission to keep watch on the leader stood outside.

The following is a blow-by-blow account of how Anubrata spent the day:

9am-10am: Deputy magistrate Tarak Mullick, a WBCS officer, videographer Amit Banerjee and central force jawans arrive at Anubrata's house at 9.25am. They are told by the leader's aides to wait outside the Bolpur party office. They proceed to the office, wait under the scorching sun and refuse to answer questions by journalists.

Minister and Bolpur Trinamul candidate Chandranath Sinha meets Anubrata at his home before leaving for Illambazar.

10am-11am: Anubrata reaches the polling booth at Bhagabat Primary School in Bolpur at 10.35am along with daughter and Trinamul activists on six motorbikes. The leader rides pillion.

By the time the surveillance team reaches the booth, Anubrata had cast his vote. A badge with the Trinamul symbol is pinned to Anubrata's kurta in violation of the model code of conduct.

11am-12noon: Anubrata returns to the party office and starts calling up district leaders to know how polling is going on. Samples of his conversations: "Everything okay?", "Are voter queues pretty long?", "Are voters smiling while queuing up? That will do. Don't worry, ishara hi kaafi hai (a signal is enough)".

The surveillance team stands outside. The videographer takes shots of people entering and exiting the party office. When reporters ask the deputy magistrate if he would go inside, he says: "We don't have instructions to enter."

Anubrata calls up aides Dipak Ghosh and Sukumar Banerjee in Khoirasole and says: "I need good margins from every booth. Any which way you can, this has to be done."

Anubrata calls up Bholanath Mitra, the Dubrajpur block Trinamul president, and says: "Conduct the polling carefully and properly. Stay at least 100 metres away from the central forces. The polling percentage of 52 till now is not good. You will have to increase it fast."

12noon-1pm: Anubrata asks his aides to "forget everything else and call up leaders inNalhati". His aides hand over the phone to Anubrata, who says: "Everything okay? Ekchetia vote hochche toh (hope we are having a monopoly in voting?) Good. We will have to take this seat."

Outside, the deputy magistrate receives a phone call from a senior. He is heard saying: "What do I do sir? They sped off so fast that we could not track them. But we reached the polling station where he (Anubrata) cast his vote."

1pm-2pm: Anubrata looks relaxed, asks his men to distribute mineral water among journalists. "My god. Central forces are all over Birbhum today. Our men are stationed 200 metres from them, but are still being chased away."

An aide walks up to Anubrata and whispers something. Anubrata calls up a leader in factional rivalry-hit Nanoor: "What is the news in Nanoor? What's the polling percentage? Eighty per cent in Jahanabad by 1pm? Carry on, carry on. You will get whatever you need." Anubrata bursts into laughter.

2pm-3pm: Anubrata starts chatting with journalists, saying he had gone out of his home last night and returned around 2.30am. He says he saw no deputy magistrate or videographer during that period. "Where were they?" asks Anubrata, smiling.

An aide tells him the Election Commission team is stationed outside and they should be offered something. Immediately, soft drinks are offered to the central forces, who refuse. "No, no. Please don't offer it to us. We won't have it," a jawan tells a Trinamul worker.

3pm-4pm: Anubrata receives a call. His aides say it's from minister Firhad Hakim, the Birbhum Trinamul observer.

"Everything is fine. We will get 11 out of 11 (the total number of seats in Birbhum is 11). We have just got news that polling has crossed 70 per cent. It will increase. Don't worry."

4pm-5pm: Anubrata calls up Trinamul leader Falguni Bhattacharya of Muraroi and admonishes her: "If you fail to ensure a lead of 400 votes from your booth, I will remove you from your post. Gur-batasha khawao, dhak bajao (treat them (voters) to jaggery and batasha, beat drums)."

5pm-6pm: While watching a TV channel beaming BJP Mayureswar candidate Locket Chatterjee complaining that her polling agents were not allowed to enter many booths, Anubrata says with a smile: "Locket ke dyakho. Boro beshi kotha bole. Eto jhogra korar ki achhe (Look at Locket. She speaks too much. What is there to quarrel so much?)"

6pm-7pm: Anubrata says he has to attend a public meeting at Bhedia in Burdwan, adjoining Birbhum. "But I have to wait for a magistrate from Burdwan to come and accompany me to Bhedia."

However, no magistrate from Burdwan turns up and Anubrata sets off on his own. The commission team accompanies him till the Birbhum border. Anubrata travels on.

7pm-8pm: Meeting over, he returns to Birbhum and is once again accompanied by the EC team from the border. He heads for the party office in Bolpur.

FIRs against Mondal

The Birbhum administration this evening lodged two FIRs against Anubrata for violation of the model code of conduct.

One FIR was lodged for entering the polling booth wearing a badge with the party symbol on it. According to the model code, party symbols cannot be used within 100 metres of a booth.

The second FIR was lodged as the leader had left the constituency where he is a voter - Bolpur - to carry out political activities in several other seats.