KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday alleged that central agencies like the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have been tasked with arresting her party workers and polling agents ahead of the Assembly elections.
She further claimed that the ED and CBI are conducting midnight raids to weaken the Trinamool Congress organisationally before the polls. Elections to 294 Assembly constituencies in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29.
Political observers noted that the allegations came a day after the ED arrested Vinesh Chandel, founder and director of I-PAC, in Delhi in connection with an alleged money laundering case.
Addressing poll rallies in Pingla and Jagatballavpur, Mamata said, “Order has been issued to Trinamool Congress men and agents. Thousands of Trinamool workers will come out if you arrest one person.”
She also referred to her earlier remark at a rally in Khandakosh, where she had warned of a possible “midnight operation”, which observers believe could be linked to Chandel’s arrest.
Banerjee alleged that central agencies plan to arrest Trinamool Congress polling booth agents to prevent them from manning booths. “The arrest was made so that our agents cannot sit in polling booths. But we are ready with alternative arrangements. Others will step in if any agent is nabbed. Women may also sit at polling booths if such a situation arises,” she said.
I-PAC has been providing political consultancy to the Trinamool Congress and the West Bengal government since 2019 and also works with several other political parties.
On January 8, the ED had conducted raids at the I-PAC office in Kolkata and the premises of co-founder Pratik Jain as part of its probe into an alleged coal scam case based on a CBI FIR.
On Monday night, Chandel was produced before Additional Sessions Judge Shefali Barnala Tandon at Patiala House Courts, which remanded him to 10-day ED custody.
Earlier, on April 2, the ED had also raided premises linked to I-PAC co-founder Rishi Raj Singh in Bengaluru and former Aam Aadmi Party communications in-charge Vijay Nair in Mumbai as part of the same investigation.