I-PAC chief Mamata Banerjee claims the BJP stole the Trinamool’s election strategy after an ED raid.

When West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hurried to the home of the Trinamool Congress’s campaign strategist and the office of political consulting firm I-PAC during ED raids on Thursday, high drama broke out in Kolkata. She then left with multiple files. As the latest source of contention between the Mamata government and the BJP, the unprecedented turn of events has caused a great deal of debate and increased the temperature in Bengal, which is about to hold elections.

The day started with two locations connected to Prashant Kishor’s I-PAC (Indian Political Action Committee) being simultaneously raided by the ED. The consulting group’s Salt Lake headquarters and the home of I-PAC chief Prateek Jain on Loudon Street in central Kolkata were being searched.

I-PAC has long been connected to the TMC and was instrumental in the party’s victory in the assembly elections in 2021 and 2019. Kishor used to be in charge of the TMC’s election strategies, but Jain took control when the political strategist left to run in the Bihar elections. The first high-ranking government official to arrive at Jain’s home during the raids was Kolkata police head Vineet Goyal. Mamata Banerjee arrived shortly after. A few minutes later, she emerged with a green file in her hand and was clearly agitated.

A furious Mamata told the reporters that Union Home Minister Amit Shah was the driving force behind the “politically motivated” ED action. She asserted that the raids were mandated in order to obtain private party records, candidate lists for the 2026 elections, and Trinamool’s election strategy. The ED was allegedly trying to “steal files” pertaining to the party’s vote plan, according to the Trinamool supremo.

Speaking to reporters, Banerjee alleged that the ED raid was aimed at accessing her party’s internal political material. “It is most unfortunate that the ED came to our office to collect candidate lists, party strategy, plans and confidential documents,” the Chief Minister alleged.

Banerjee accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of planning the incident. “The nasty and naughty Home Minister who cannot keep the country safe is behind this. Amit Shah wants to collect our party’s candidate list,” she said, adding that names were being deleted in one case while documents were being taken in another.

She claimed that documents were taken without adequate safeguards. “They are taking my party documents. There were no guards. On one side there is the SIR case where names are being deleted, and on the other, they are collecting documents,” she said.

Questioning the legality of the move, Banerjee asked whether it was the ED’s mandate to seize political material. “Is it the duty of the ED and the home minister to collect candidate lists, party strategy and party plans?” she said.

Drawing a comparison, Banerjee added, “If I get BJP party documents, what will be the result?”

She said she personally intervened after learning about the raid. “I rang up Pratik because he is in charge of my party’s work. ED has raided my IT office in Sector V, so I am moving there as well,” Banerjee said, as she proceeded to the Salt Lake location. 

In response to Mamata Banerjee’s accusations, the Enforcement Directorate stated that the searches were part of a routine campaign against money laundering and had nothing to do with the elections.

“Certain persons, including constitutional functionaries, have come to 2 premises (out of 10), intruded illegally by misusing their position and snatched away the documents,” the central agency said.

It also alleged that the officials traced proceeds of crime to political consulting firm I-PAC for the Goa election. “Proceeds of crime generated through the alleged coal pilferage scheme were diverted to Goa and given to I-PAC for its work in the 2022 Goa Assembly elections for TMC. Team digging out more inside details,” the agency added.