'Nasty, naughty Shah seizing documents': Mamata as I-PAC office raided
What's the story
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted searches at the premises of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) and its director Pratik Jain in Kolkata on Thursday as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation. Reacting to the raid, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that the ED was trying to seize internal documents, strategy, and hard disks of her party, the Trinamool Congress (TMC). She accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of using constitutional agencies to intimidate opposition parties.
Accusations leveled
Banerjee accuses ED of political vendetta
Banerjee described the ED's actions as a "political vendetta" and said they were unconstitutional. She asked if it was the duty of the ED to collect political party data. "The nasty, naughty Home Minister...is taking away all my party documents. What will be the result if I raid the BJP party office?" The TMC chief also alleged that central agencies were selectively collecting political information while over 15 lakh people had been deleted from electoral rolls without proper explanation.
Ongoing investigation
This is political vendetta: CM
Banerjee made the claims after leaving Jain's Loudon Street home in Kolkata, where searches had been ongoing since Thursday morning. She claimed that the ED was attempting to obtain the ruling party's internal strategy, candidate lists, and confidential digital material, but that such information had nothing to do with a financial investigation. "This is not law enforcement, this is political vendetta. The home minister is behaving like the nastiest home minister, not someone who protects the country," she said.
Criticism voiced
Opposition leader criticizes Banerjee's actions
Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari slammed Banerjee for allegedly interfering with constitutional agencies and obstructing investigations. He questioned why TMC's documents were with a private consultancy firm. The situation is reminiscent of a 2019 incident when the CBI searched then police commissioner Rajeev Kumar's residence, prompting Banerjee to stage a dharna in central Kolkata.
IPAC
Jain is the co-founder of I-PAC
Jain is the co-founder of I-PAC and also the head of the IT cell of the Trinamool Congress. Political strategist Prashant Kishor founded I-PAC before the 2014 Lok Sabha election. The exact nature of these searches and details of the case being probed remain unclear as no official statement has been issued by either the ED or I-PAC till now.