In a high-pitched election battle between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal, the ruling party’s political strategist, India Political Action Committee (I-PAC), is facing the heat.
With operations temporarily halted till May 11 due to certain legal issues, employees who are associates and entry-level staff on the ground at districts across West Bengal have pulled back on their work, entailing feedback, voter outreach and booth-level strategy. This means for 20 days ahead of the two-phase election in the state on April 23, the political strategy wing is taking no chances to be targeted yet again. Its Kolkata office in Sector 5, Salt Lake, remains shut with all empty desks and no employees, except a security guard to man the empty office.
I-PAC plans to regroup a week after the election results are announced to assess the post-poll situation and determine its next steps.
I-PAC has been instrumental in TMC’s victory in the state and has been working with the party since 2019. What this means is that the ruling party banked on their strategy wing to support the party with research on existing social welfare schemes, feedback on the ground from various constituencies, creating a sustainable and people-friendly manifesto, campaign strategies for the party, including key leaders for their party. The primary focus is on TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee.
Mamata, however, says this will not impact the TMC’s campaign or the party’s outreach through public meetings and door-to-door campaigning in various constituencies. The TMC supremo mentioned during her public meeting on Sunday that she would provide jobs to I-PAC staff, without naming the organisation.
“If the employees of the agency are threatened, they will join us. We will give them jobs. I will not allow even one boy to lose his job,” said Mamata Banerjee.
Meanwhile, political analysts believe that I-PAC’s temporary halt in operations will not significantly impact the TMC, as the core groundwork—including campaign strategy and candidate lists—is already complete.
“This is over, now the election is coming. On the eve of the election, if I-PAC is not there, it won't harm TMC in any way politically, as they have already done their groundwork and work in terms of organisational activities and pre-poll opinions of people for the 2026 elections,” said political analyst Udayan Bandhyopadyay.
THE WEEK spoke with a member of I-PAC’s leadership team earlier this month, who noted that the organisation has been working on the ground for months. This includes the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which allowed the team to broaden its reach and deepen connections with voters across the state.
"We have been working here continuously for a while now, and a key USP we bring is that we literally speak to the people. We are perceived as neutral, which encourages people to share their aspirations and concerns. We then present this in as unfiltered a manner as possible to the top leadership. We tell them that this is the situation. You have to take that judgment call. How do you get involved and address whatever people's aspirations are, in some cases, whatever people's concerns are?” said Arjun Dutta, a member of the leadership team, I-PAC, adding that these initiatives, initiated well in advance, have given both the political advocacy wing and TMC a clear on-ground perspective.
When did the I-PAC legal tangles begin?
On January 8th, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) conducted simultaneous raids at the I-PAC office and the Loudon Street residence of I-PAC director Pratik Jain in Kolkata. Mamata Banerjee stormed into Jain’s house during the operation and reportedly walked away with documents and digital devices, while launching a blistering attack on the BJP’s senior leadership, particularly Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
The TMC supremo accused the BJP-led Centre of using central investigating agencies to target the ruling party in West Bengal and take away election-related documents. Mamata also similarly walked into the I-PAC office and took away documents and digital devices.
The ED stated that the raids were connected to the 2020 coal smuggling scam, alleging that an I-PAC sister concern was the beneficiary of crores of rupees channelled through hawala operations. The ED approached the High Court and the Supreme Court seeking an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) as a neutral agency to view interference by the state government.
Mamata storming into Jain’s residence and I-PAC office amounted to obstruction under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED stated the raids are part of routine investigations and not politically motivated. The timing of the raids, however, raised several questions about the motive behind the raids.
Raids in connection with the coal smuggling scam were also conducted in multiple locations linked to I-PAC at Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore on April 2. This included the premises of one of the I-PAC Bangalore directors, Rishi Raj Singh. On April 13, I-PAC director and co-founder Vinesh Chandra was arrested in Delhi by the ED, whose house was also searched by the ED on April 2.
“We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Vinesh Chandel. We demand that central agencies be withdrawn from Bengal ahead of the pulse.” Said TMC MP Derek Obrien.
The legal battles for I-PAC and being in the eye of the storm do not end for TMC’s political advocacy wing as yet. However, with an attempt to lie low, I-PAC is hoping that this will take the focus away from them.
