Trinamool Congress politician Anubrata Mandal has occupied one of the top slots in the Google News listing in Bangla (India) because of the ill-health of a part of his anatomy that is supposed to be private. On getting the news, social media users posted content mocking the Trinamool Congress leader’s medical condition. Facebook and Twitter show many posts making fun of the politician.

The doctors have prescribed removing his testicles surgically, say sources in the Seth Sukhlal Karnani Medical (SSKM) Hospital where he is admitted.

The Trinamool Congress strongman from Birbhum has been struggling even to walk, with doctors having recorded his last movement, all of 72 m in 6 min yesterday, after which he sat down, wincing in pain. Hospital sources say his testicles are swollen, with a puss-like secretion oozing from them.

The symptom of such scrotal abscess is like what is observed in a patient suffering from epididymitis, often caused by a bacterial or sexually transmitted infection, say medical experts.

Anubrata Mandal was taken to the hospital this morning. The Trinamool Congress leader has difficulty breathing too, for which he may be provided with medical oxygen.

Anubrata Mandal was supposed to appear at the CBI office at Nizam Palace last Wednesday in connection with a case of cattle smuggling. However, he left his house in Chinar Park and went straight to SSKM Hospital.

He had been suffering from stomach problems since last night. A team comprising six doctors examined him for about 3 h and prescribed his admission to the hospital.

Health bulletin of Anubrata Mandal

Anubrata Mandal has so far undergone multiple blood tests, X-rays and an electrocardiograph. Sources say he has a cardiac problem too, aggravated by liver problems. Making it worse is his diabetes. The amount of bad cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein) has shot up. This is causing problems. His sleep apnoea had to be treated with a CPAP machine. He suffers from fistula.

Of all the ailments above, the doctors are most worried about the testicular problems of Anubrata Mandal. Doctors are mulling over the surgical option as the politician survives on at least 25 kinds of medicines that have together wrecked his physiology.

Activists and leaders of the Trinamool Congress have been inquiring at the SSKM Hospital about the health status of Anubrata Mandal and wishing him a speedy recovery.

Debangshu Bhattacharya (Dev), a young Trinamool Congress activist, made a lengthy statement on Facebook in response to people who have been making jokes about the ailing leader’s testicular condition.

Bhattacharya’s Facebook post translates to “Some problems have been detected in the lower part of a person’s body. Opposition parties and some ‘progressive’ journalists have been making fun of it on social media. Oddly enough, most of those mockers are leftists and BJP supporters! Must Anubrata Mandal tolerate all this because he is a man?”

“I just wondered if the same thing would happen to an opposition leader or if the part of the body were to be the uterus or breasts instead of testicles, or the groin, where the lower limbs join, and that’s we were to make satire out of the situation, the chatterati of Facebook intellectuals would shower condemnation upon us. Do you have the right to mock the physical problems of someone who may either be your favourite or your pet peeve politically? And after all these satires, do you have the right to claim to be educated?” Bhattacharya questioned.

“If God has been unfair in some ways, the cloud also has a silver lining. He has unmasked some ferocious vultures that moved around in our midst disguised as calm, civilised, politically neutral people,” he added.