• Source:JND

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday lashed out at the Central government, accusing it of trying to collect crucial party data for the upcoming elections by misusing the Enforcement Directorate.

ED on Thursday raided the residence of I-PAC chief Prateek Jain in Kolkata. I-PAC also looks after the IT cell of the Trinamool Congress.

Banerjee made the allegations after coming out of Jain's Loudon Street residence, where searches have been underway since Thursday morning.

The ED also conducted the searches at the office of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC), the consultancy firm of the Jain heads.

Lashing out at Centre and Home Minister Amit Shah, Mamata said, "Is it the duty of the ED, Amit Shah, to collect the party's hard disk, candidate list?... The nasty, naughty Home Minister who cannot protect the country and is taking away all my party documents."

"What will be the result if I raid the BJP party office? On one side, they are deleting the names of all the voters by carrying out the SIR in West Bengal...Because of the elections, they are collecting all the information about my party," she was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

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"This is not law enforcement; it is a political vendetta," she added.

Mamata claimed that the central agency was trying to access the ruling party's internal strategy, candidate lists, and confidential digital material, which had no link to any financial probe.

Reacting to Banerjee's statement, Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly and BJP leader, Suvendu Adhikari, called her visit to Jain's house during the ED raid as "unconstitutional and an act of interference.

Demanding action against the chief minister, Adhikari said, "I feel that the chief minister and the Kolkata police commissioner's visit was unethical, unconstitutional and direct interference in the central agency's investigation.

BJP reacts

The BJP also issued a statement on the issue, saying, "The Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal, takes note of the statements made by the Chief Minister of West Bengal in response to the ongoing searches being conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED)...According to the Enforcement Directorate, the searches are evidence-based and are being carried out in connection with the illegal coal smuggling case."

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"The Enforcement Directorate has further clarified that no office of any political party has been searched as part of this action. The agency has also stated that the searches have no linkage with any election and are part of its routine and continuing crackdown on money laundering....The Bharatiya Janata Party, West Bengal, reiterates its consistent and principled position that law enforcement agencies must be allowed to function independently, professionally, and without political interference. The law must be permitted to take its own course, guided solely by facts and evidence. Any attempt to politicise lawful investigative processes or to undermine constitutional authorities only weakens public trust in institutions and the rule of law," the opposition party stated.

(With PTI Inputs)


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