The Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party engaged in an intense exchange of words on Tuesday over the Enforcement Directorate's raids at the premises of poll strategist I-PAC. While the ruling TMC called the raids "political vendetta", the BJP targeted Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for repeatedly obstructing the functioning of central agencies.
Targeting the BJP and the central agency, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the ED action was politically motivated and timed with the approaching assembly polls in West Bengal. "Our stand remains exactly the same. This case was registered in 2020. Five or six years have passed. What were they doing all these years? Were they asleep?" Ghosh asked. The TMC leader questioned the BJP's sudden raids ahead of the assembly elections in the state.
The TMC leader also asked why the I-PAC director, Pratik Jain, was probed now, as Jan Suraaj party leader Prashant Kishor was heading the organisation when the case was registered. "Why Pratik Jain now? Because he is cooperating with our election campaign. He is a consultant involved in planning and structuring our election strategy. The party's campaign-related information, planning and data may be at his office or residence," Ghosh alleged. "This is nothing but a political search. The public can see it clearly," Ghosh added.
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Meanwhile, Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat accused Banerjee of obstructing the functioning of central agencies. "Political opposition and ideological differences are natural in a democracy. But attempting to undermine or dilute constitutional institutions created under the authority of the Constitution is unacceptable," Shekhawat said. "When such institutions are weakened, it is not just a violation of constitutional propriety but an assault on the very soul of India," he said.
The intense exchange took place on a day when the Supreme Court was hearing a plea moved by the ED against Mamata Banerjee for allegedly obstructing their raids at the I-PAC office. The apex court described ED's allegations against the chief minister as "very serious", and agreed to examine whether a state's law-enforcing agencies can interfere with any central agency's investigation into any serious offence.