Sanjay Bakshi's rise from being an alleged bookmaker to a city father has earned him the moniker "penciler to councillor" among his opponents in Burrabazar.

A penciler writes down the odds in satta, usually with a pencil because the digits often have to be erased.

Senior politicians in Burrabazar recounted how the Trinamul leader, who is accused of proximity with the group that clashed with Congress supporters in the Girish Park area in north Calcutta on Saturday, allegedly operated as a bookmaker in a satta racket in the early 1980s.

"Sanjay would head a gang that wrote satta odds in every lane in Girish Park and its neighbouring areas. Whenever police would harass him, he would seek help from local politicians. Gradually he came closer to them and joined Chhatra Parishad (the student wing of the Congress ) in the early 1980s," a senior Trinamul leader in the area said.

Bakshi, who denied having ever been a penciler, contested his first election in 1985 on a Congress ticket and became the councillor from Ward 25. His mentor was the late Deokinandan Poddar, who was then the Congress MLA from Jorabagan. "It was Deokida who had helped me get the party's nomination in the 1985 civic polls," Bakshi said on Sunday.

He was elected from the same ward on a Congress ticket in 1990. In 1995, when the ward became reserved for women, the party fielded Bakshi's wife Smita. She won the poll and has been representing the ward in the civic house since (now as a Trinamul nominee).

In 1996, Bakshi's fortunes soared when he got the Congress's nomination to contest the Jorabagan Assembly seat. He won the seat defeating Sarala Maheswari of the CPM.

But next year, he switched his loyalty to Mamata Banerjee when she broke away from the Congress to launch the Trinamul Congress. "Sometime in August 1997 Mamata had asked me to prepare the stage at the feet of Gandhi statue from where she announced the birth of Trinamul after breaking away from the Congress," Bakshi recounted.

A former associate who has since quit politics said Bakshi's role in the fledgling party was to arrange funds. "Trinamul was a baby, in need of funds. This is where Sanjay Bakshi came into the picture. The Burrabazar strongman's ability to arrange funds endeared him to senior leaders," the former associate said.

Bakshi's political fortunes have been dwindling since 2001, when he lost the Jorabagan Assembly seat as Trinamul candidate. He has courted controversies one after another to Mamata's embarrassment since then.

In April 2004, Bakshi had allegedly abused and assaulted a traffic constable when he asked the leader's driver to produce papers after the car had jumped signal. An arrest warrant was issued against the leader following a complaint by the cop.

In 2005, the Trinamul leadership had censured Bakshi after he allegedly assaulted an 18-year-old HS examinee. Asked about the twin cases, Bakshi said on Sunday: "Those were attempts to frame me".

In the 2010 civic polls Trinamul had denied Bakshi a ticket, allegedly over a controversy related to his personal life.

Many senior Trinamul leaders are unhappy with the leadership for bestowing too much power on the Bakshis. Smita, Bakshi's wife, is councillor, chairperson of Borough IV and Jorasanko MLA. Her husband is a flourishing promoter with a stake in most of the buildings under construction in the area.

"How can the party allow such a conflict of interest? As a civic and legislative representative, she can ensure that her husband carries on with his construction business without any resistance from the administration, even if he is into illegal deals," said a Trinamul leader.

Bakshi denied any wrongdoing in his construction business. He also denied any role in Saturday's violence, which his associates said he had been planning for days. "Dada knew this would be a tough election. Around 8pm on Friday, he met his associates in a room behind his home on Balaram Dey Street and identified the areas they would be targeting," said an associate.

But why is winning Ward 25 so important for Bakshi? The ward is at the centre of his construction business, local Trinamul leaders said. "Several crores of rupees are involved in construction projects in Ward 25. If his wife loses, Bakshi will lose all the money," a local leader said.

Residents of Ward 25 alleged that Bakshi started illegal construction by taking over litigated properties after Trinamul came to power in 2011. After Bakshi bought a building, goons would start threatening the tenants to vacate. Those who moved out would get a few lakhs. The rest were forced to leave.

Then Bakshi would get permission from the Calcutta Municipal Corporation, where his wife is a councillor, to repairing the structure and build the place from scratch.