Abhishek Banerjee alleges 'information theft' in ED raid on I-PAC, sharpens TMC's attack on Centre

Kolkata: Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Monday escalated the party's confrontation with the Centre over the ED raid on I-PAC, alleging that the central agency's objective was not investigation but "stealing political information" to settle scores on behalf of the BJP ahead of the 2026 assembly polls.

Addressing a conclave of the party's digital volunteers, 'Ami Banglar Digital Joddha', Banerjee questioned both the intent and the selectivity of the ED action, claiming that the raid was designed to create a political narrative against the ruling party rather than pursue a legitimate probe.

Banerjee alleged that the January 8 searches at premises linked to I-PAC, which provides political consultancy to the TMC and manages its IT operations, were aimed at accessing the party's internal strategy.

"The ED says it came to investigate the coal scam. That case is more than three years old and they have not summoned anyone all this time. They can come, but their purpose was information theft," Banerjee alleged, marking the first time he directly accused the agency of attempting to appropriate Trinamool's internal data.

The ED conducted searches at the Salt Lake office of I-PAC and at the south Kolkata residence of its director Pratik Jain as part of a money laundering probe linked to the alleged coal scam. Searches were also carried out at a few locations in Delhi.

Banerjee questioned why the agency chose to target only the Kolkata-based director when I-PAC has three directors operating from Kolkata, Hyderabad and Delhi.

"If the investigation is genuine, why were offices and residences in other states not searched? And if a director's house is being searched, why go to the Bengal office at all?" he asked.

"And, if the case is against one director, why target the office? This is meant to create an impression that the organisation itself is guilty," alleged Banerjee, considered number two in the TMC hierarchy.

The TMC leader linked the ED action to I-PAC's role in assisting the party during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, reiterating a charge he had first made at a rally in Nadia's Taherpur on Friday. I-PAC, he said, had helped the party develop digital tools such as the 'Didir Doot' app to assist voters during the revision process.

"Because they helped people and worked for the TMC during SIR, the ED was sent to raid them. On one hand, the Election Commission is being used to snatch people's rights, and on the other, ED is being used to throttle democracy," Banerjee alleged.

The ED has accused Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of obstructing its officers and removing incriminating documents during the raid at Jain's residence, a charge strongly denied by the TMC. The agency has moved the Calcutta High Court seeking a CBI probe.

Without directly referring to the removal of files, Banerjee defended the chief minister, saying, "She responded in the language they used. In other states, leaders are threatened into switching sides. That does not work here."

Banerjee also widened the political attack, accusing the BJP of disrespecting the Bengali language and icons. He cited BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya's alleged remark branding Bengalis as "Bangladeshis" and recalled the vandalism of polymath and social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's statue during a BJP rally in 2019.

"Had Vidyasagar not existed, (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi or (Union Home Minister) Amit Shah would not even know how to write their names," he said.

Banerjee, however, did not elaborate on the connection between the two Gujaratis and the Bengali language.

Framing the party's organisational strength in militaristic terms, Banerjee likened the TMC to the three wings of the armed forces: grassroots workers as the "Army", MPs and lawyers as the "Navy", and social media volunteers as the "Air Force".

Urging digital workers to counter BJP narratives with data and logic, Banerjee said the party would continue to fight what he called the misuse of central agencies and institutions, asserting that "Trinamool may have nothing, but it has the people with it."

With the ED row spilling from courtrooms to streets and digital platforms, the confrontation has become a central political flashpoint in Bengal as the TMC sharpens its pitch against the BJP in the run-up to the 2026 polls.