ED at doorstep, Mamata on the move: The drama that unfolded at I-PAC office in Kolkata

Without engaging with central force personnel, Banerjee accessed the building through the basement and took a general lift to reach the 11th floor, where the office is situated, despite a separate VIP lift arrangement being available.

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday dramatically turned up at the residence of I-PAC chief Pratik Jain amid an ongoing ED raid, alleging that the central agency was attempting to seize the TMC’s internal documents, hard disks and sensitive data linked to its election strategy.

What unfolded next was nothing short of a movie sequence as the chief minister managed to get several files brought out of the office and placed in her vehicle while the raid was still ongoing, soures said.

Banerjee reached the I-PAC’s Sector-V office around 1 pm. By then, senior officers of the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate had cordoned off the area, while several local TMC leaders and ministers, including Bidhannagar Mayor Krishna Chakraborty and state minister Sujit Bose, were already present, along with DGP Rajeev Kumar.

Without even engaging with central force personnel Banerjee accessed the building through the basement and took a general lift to reach the 11th floor, where the office is situated, despite a separate VIP lift arrangement being available.

“They have taken our election strategy, our SIR data and other details. If the assembly polls pass and we have to draw up election plans afresh, who will be responsible?” the CM asked.

She said the raid at the residence and offices of Jain, "the in-charge of my IT cell", was politically motivated and unconstitutional.

Banerjee, also the TMC supremo, arrived at Jain’s residence around noon, minutes after Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma reached the spot, and stayed for 20-25 minutes before emerging with a green folder in her hand.

“They have raided the residence and offices of our in-charge of IT cell. They were confiscating my party’s documents and hard disks, which have details about our party candidates for the assembly polls. I have brought those back,” Banerjee told reporters.

She accused the ED officials of walking away with hard disks, mobile phones, laptops, candidate lists and internal strategy documents of the ruling party.

“Is it the duty of the ED to collect political party data?” she asked.

Apart from providing political consultancy to the TMC, the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC ) also manages the party’s IT and media operations.

Launching a blistering attack on the BJP leadership, Banerjee described the search as an act of “political vendetta”, and accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of misusing constitutional agencies to intimidate opposition parties.

“This is not law enforcement. Is this how the nastiest and naughty home minister functions, who cannot protect the country and is sending agencies to harass before elections?” she said, later adding, “After this, you will be reduced to zero. I am sorry Mr Amit Shah, the Prime Minister must control his home minister.” ED searches had also been underway since early morning at I-PAC’s office in Sector V, Salt Lake. Banerjee alleged the raids began around 6 am when no one was present at the office.

“They started the search when there was nobody inside. They transferred our data, poll strategies and information into their system. This is a crime,” she alleged after visiting the Sector-V office.

“They attempted to take away all the documents from the office. The tables are empty. If the papers need to be recreated, it will take so much time that the elections will be over. Was it fair for them to do this?” she questioned.

Banerjee said TMC is a registered political party and pays income tax regularly.

“We have elected representatives. If the ED needed anything, they could have taken the details from the Income Tax Department,” she said.

The TMC boss wondered why central agencies don’t send notices to BJP leaders.

“The BJP is the biggest party of thieves. What will happen if we reciprocate this ED search by raiding BJP party offices in Bengal; we are exercising restraint. But, our restraint should not be mistaken for our weakness,” she said.

Accusing the BJP of systematically undermining democracy, Banerjee alleged large-scale deletion of voters from electoral rolls in West Bengal.

“The BJP is the murderer of democracy. Names of over 15 lakh people have been deleted through the SIR process. Do they think they can capture the state by deleting voters and raiding the IT cell offices of political parties?” she said.

Asserting that the TMC is a registered political party that pays income tax, Banerjee said the Centre cannot “bulldoze us using money and muscle power”.

“I dare the BJP to fight us politically if they want to win Bengal,” she said, adding that she would remain at the I-PAC office until Jain arrived and resumed work.

Banerjee also asked party workers to protest in every block of the state against the ED raids.

Asked whether she could speak to Jain, the CM said, “For party matters, I had called him, but he did not take the call. Upon enquiring further, I learnt that his phone was taken by the ED. Then, I thought they had probably taken away all our strategy and poll details, prompting me to rush to his residence.” She left the I-PAC office at around 4:14 pm, after Jain came to his office.

The episode is reminiscent of a dramatic standoff in 2019 at the same Loudon Street area, when the CBI searched the bungalow of then police commissioner Rajeev Kumar, prompting Banerjee to rush to the spot and later stage a dharna in central Kolkata.

CM to hit streets on January 9

Banerjee will lead a protest march here on Friday against the Enforcement Directorate raids at the office of political consultancy firm I-PAC, Trinamool Congress sources said.

The CM will lead the march from Jadavpur 8B Bus Stand to Hazra More at 2 pm, the sources said.

(With PTI inputs)