Kolkata/Lucknow: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted raids on Thursday at the Salt Lake office of the political consultancy firm Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) in West Bengal, as well as at the residence of its co-founder, Prateek Jain, located on Loudon Street. The action comes as part of an investigation into a coal smuggling-related money laundering case.
The raids quickly triggered a political firestorm. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to Prateek Jain’s residence and strongly criticized the central agency’s move. Meanwhile, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to target the BJP.
Mamata Banerjee’s Allegations
Mamata Banerjee accused the ED of attempting to seize internal party documents, hard drives, candidate lists, and electoral strategies of the Trinamool Congress (TMC). She directly targeted Union Home Minister Amit Shah, saying:
“Is it the Home Minister’s job to collect party hard drives and candidate lists? The minister who cannot even secure the country is now taking away all documents of my party. Imagine if I were to raid BJP offices—what would happen?”
According to reports, Banerjee emerged from Prateek Jain’s residence with a green file and a hard drive, claiming that she had secured the party’s documents. She described the ED’s actions as an “assault on democracy” and announced statewide protests organized by TMC.
Akhilesh Yadav Takes Aim at BJP
In parallel, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav attacked the BJP on social media, highlighting its setbacks in Bengal. He wrote:
“BJP is losing badly in Bengal. This is the first proof!”
I-PAC and Prateek Jain’s Role
Founded in 2014 by Prashant Kishor, I-PAC has been actively working with TMC and the West Bengal government since the 2019 general elections. Prateek Jain, a co-founder of the firm, also heads TMC’s IT cell. I-PAC played a pivotal role in TMC’s landslide victory in the 2021 state assembly elections and in the 2024 general elections in Bengal.
According to ED sources, the raid is linked to evidence of hawala transactions and cash deals in the coal smuggling case. The agency has clarified that the action is based on evidence and not connected to the elections.
The raids come just months before the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections, leading TMC to allege that this is a politically motivated move.