Kolkata, Jan 9 (PTI) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday escalated her confrontation with the Centre ahead of assembly polls by leading a massive protest march against the ED’s raid on I-PAC and accusing the BJP of using central agencies to “steal” the TMC’s electoral strategy.
Walking from the 8B Bus Stand area to Hazra More in south Kolkata, a route long associated with her street politics, Banerjee transformed the ED action into a show of political mobilisation, signalling that the ruling party intends to fight the battle not only in courtrooms but also on the streets.
Flanked by senior party functionaries, Banerjee led a sloganeering crowd that charged the BJP-led Centre with misusing central agencies for political vendetta and vowed to defeat the saffron camp in the polls to the 294-member assembly, around three months away.
As the street mobilisation unfolded, the confrontation simultaneously spilled into the judicial arena, with the Calcutta High Court adjourning till January 14 the hearing on petitions related to the ED’s search and seizure operations at sites linked to political consultancy firm I-PAC, citing unmanageable chaos inside the courtroom.
The escalation widened further after Banerjee lodged police complaints against the ED in connection with the raids, prompting the Kolkata and Bidhannagar Police to register FIRs and initiate investigations, extending the standoff to police stations as well.
Banerjee unexpectedly visited the residence of I-PAC director Pratik Jain and later the firm’s office in Salt Lake, where the ED was conducting raids in connection with the coal pilferage case.
In its first reaction to the developments that have triggered political upheaval in West Bengal, I-PAC said the Enforcement Directorate’s raids at its premises have set an “unsettling precedent”.
The firm maintained that it would continue to work in an “unfazed and unperturbed” manner.
Addressing the rally after the nearly 10-km march, Banerjee alleged that the ED searches at I-PAC premises, which provide political consultancy to the TMC and manage its IT operations, were aimed at accessing the party’s internal strategy.
“What I did yesterday, I did as the TMC chairperson. I have done nothing illegal,” she said, referring to her appearance at the I-PAC office and at the residence of Jain during the raids.
Claiming that ED officials entered the premises early in the morning, Banerjee said that by the time she reached later in the day, “many things might already have been taken away”.
“If someone tries to kill me politically, don’t I have the right to defend myself?” she asked, asserting that central agencies were being used as political tools.
Alleging that the money trail ran through “traitors”, in an apparent reference to former TMC leaders now with the BJP, she described what she called a chain linking “Jagannath to Suvendu to Amit Shah”, warning that she had proof stored in pen drives.
“They talk about coal scam money. But who eats coal money? How is is eaten? It goes through traitors. Jagannath to Suvendu to Amit Shah, this is the chain. I have all the proof in pen drives. I will release it when the time comes,” she said.
Banerjee accused central agencies of functioning as “political tools” of the BJP and warned the ruling party at the Centre against underestimating Bengal.
“All agencies have been captured. You forcibly captured Maharashtra, Haryana and Bihar. Do you think you can capture Bengal too?” she asked, before declaring, “If someone tries to hit me politically, I get politically rejuvenated and reborn.” She ended with a challenge aimed squarely at the 2026 assembly polls: “It will not be our fall, it will be yours.” Her remarks came on a day when BJP national president and Union Health Minister J P Nadda was on a visit to the state.
Earlier, legal proceedings at the high court took a chaotic turn when Justice Suvra Ghosh left the courtroom after repeated requests to vacate the premises went unheeded. A subsequent plea by the ED before Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Paul for an urgent hearing on Friday was not entertained.
The ED has accused the state machinery of obstructing its probe and sought transfer of the investigation into Thursday’s events to the CBI, naming Banerjee and certain state officials as respondents.
The agency in its petition alleged that “key incriminating documents” were seized and “stolen” from the custody of agency officials by the Trinamool Congress supremo with the aid of state police.
Alleging that the ED seized confidential political data meant for the TMC’s use in the assembly elections, in a display of “arbitrary, mala fide, and colourable exercise of power”, the party too has moved the high court seeking restraint on “misuse and dissemination” of documents seized during the search operations.
Clad in her trademark white cotton sari, shawl and slippers, Banerjee walked steadily at the head of the procession, while conch shells were blown by women supporters.
Senior BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari accused Banerjee of attempting to obstruct a lawful investigation, a charge the TMC denied.
The confrontation also reverberated nationally, with several TMC MPs detained in New Delhi while protesting outside the Home Ministry against the alleged misuse of probe agencies. Banerjee condemned the police action, calling it an assault on democratic rights. PTI PNT AMR SMY AO MNB RBT NN PNT NN
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