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Opposition parties in West Bengal on Thursday mounted a scathing attack on Trinamool Congress Supremo Mamata Banerjee over her visit to the residence of I-PAC co-founder Pratik Jain and the firm’s Salt Lake office while the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was conducting searches, accusing her of unconstitutional interference and destruction of evidence.
Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari described Banerjee’s presence at Jain’s residence, accompanied by the Kolkata Police Commissioner, as a direct breach of constitutional norms. “I feel that the Chief Minister and the Kolkata Police Commissioner’s visit was unethical, unconstitutional and direct interference in a central agency’s investigation,” Adhikari told reporters, demanding that the ED initiate legal action against her. Warning of the wider implications, he said, “A wrong message will go to the people of West Bengal if action is not taken as per constitutional norms.”
Adhikari alleged that this was not an isolated instance, recalling Banerjee’s earlier interventions during CBI actions. “She had gone to the then police commissioner Rajeev Kumar’s residence during a CBI raid in 2019 and later sat on a dharna for hours when ministers were detained. This has become a habit,” he said. Drawing a contrast, he claimed that state police had raided his MLA office in Nandigram without a warrant. “I challenge the Chief Minister to raid BJP offices. They will not find anything like the cash recovered from associates of her leaders,” he added.
The West Bengal BJP intensified the attack, with state president Samik Bhattacharya accusing Banerjee of obstructing justice. “Today, she intervened in an ongoing criminal investigation by a central agency. This amounts to destruction of evidence and obstruction of government officials from performing their duties,” Bhattacharya said. Alleging that Banerjee removed files and a laptop from the premises, he added, “The Chief Minister’s raid on the I-PAC office puts a seal on TMC’s involvement in corruption.”
Bhattacharya said such conduct was unprecedented. “There have been ED and CBI raids earlier, but this never happened. Once, Mamata Banerjee was projected as a symbol of honesty. Today, she has put the last nail in the coffin of that image,” he remarked. Questioning the attempt to link the BJP to the raid, he said, “Pratik Jain is neither a TMC leader nor an MP or MLA. Why the ED raided his home is for the agency to explain. Why blame the BJP?”
The CPI(M) went further, demanding Banerjee’s arrest. State secretary Mohammed Salim alleged that the Chief Minister removed material linked to electoral manipulation. “She was seen leaving with files and a laptop. She claimed it contained party information, but we believe it had documentation related to vote manipulation. That is what I-PAC does,” Salim said, calling for cases to be registered against Banerjee and senior police officials who escorted her. Salim questioned Banerjee’s assertion that Jain was the TMC’s IT chief. “When did Pratik Jain join the TMC? Is his house a party office? The ED raided the I-PAC office at Salt Lake. Is that also a TMC office?” he asked, while also alleging that the entire episode was “stage-managed” by both the BJP and the TMC ahead of the Assembly elections.
The Congress echoed similar concerns. Former state party chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleged that I-PAC functioned as the ruling party’s “eyes and ears”. “I-PAC is like an investigating agency of the TMC. They are into vote manipulation and unethical practices to ensure electoral success,” he told PTI. Accusing Banerjee of selective outrage, he added, “When central agencies acted against the Congress and even insulted Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, she was silent. Why is she so worked up now?” Chowdhury alleged that Banerjee’s reaction was aimed at protecting vested interests linked to the consultancy firm. “Is this outrage against the ED because of its actions, or because those who help you win elections through misdeeds are under scrutiny?” he asked.
During the ED raid, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited Jain’s residence and launched a scathing attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, accusing it of misusing central investigative agencies to target regional parties. “They steal and then they lie. If you cannot fight us politically, why come to Bengal? Defeat us democratically,” Banerjee said. “You are using agencies to loot our papers, our strategy, our voters, our data, our Bengal. By doing this, the seats you are getting will go down to zero. I request the Prime Minister to control the Home Minister,” she added. Banerjee also alleged that ED officials attempted to confiscate internal party documents and hard disks containing sensitive electoral information. “They have raided the residence of our IT chief and tried to seize party documents and hard disks with details of our candidates for the Assembly elections. I have brought those back,” she said.
The ED, however, firmly rejected the Chief Minister’s allegations. In a statement, the agency said the searches were “evidence-based” and unrelated to politics or elections. “Searches are being conducted at 10 places, six in West Bengal and four in Delhi, in connection with illegal coal smuggling. The probe covers premises linked to the generation of cash and hawala transfers,” the statement said. “No political party office has been searched. The action is not linked to any elections and is part of a routine crackdown on money laundering,” the ED added.
