West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee on Friday led a large protest march in Kolkata against the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) searches at the residence and offices of Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) chief Pratik Jain. The protest, marked by strong political messaging and high turnout, comes amid escalating tensions between the ruling TMC and the BJP-led central government ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.
Accompanied by senior TMC leaders, cabinet ministers, MPs, MLAs and hundreds of party supporters, Banerjee began the march from the 8B Bus Stand area in south Kolkata. The rally, filled with slogans condemning the Centre, proceeded towards Hazra More under tight security arrangements. Protesters accused the BJP of using central agencies as tools of political intimidation to target opposition parties.
The march follows Mamata Banerjee’s dramatic visit on Thursday to Pratik Jain’s Loudon Street residence while the ED was conducting search operations there. The Chief Minister had openly confronted the agency officials and alleged that they were attempting to seize sensitive party-related material, including internal documents, hard disks and confidential organisational data that had no connection with any financial investigation.
“The ED is crossing all limits. This is nothing but an attempt to interfere in the internal functioning of a political party,” Banerjee had alleged, asserting that the action was politically motivated and aimed at destabilising the TMC ahead of crucial elections.
TMC MPs Detained in Delhi, Mamata Hits Out at BJP
The political confrontation intensified further in New Delhi, where several TMC MPs, including Mahua Moitra and Derek O’Brien, were detained by Delhi Police while protesting outside Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s office against the ED raids. Visuals of MPs being dragged and physically carried away by police personnel triggered sharp reactions from the TMC leadership.
Reacting strongly, Mamata Banerjee condemned the detention of her party’s MPs, calling it an example of “arrogance in uniform”. In a post on X, she said the treatment meted out to elected representatives was unacceptable in a democracy.
“I strongly condemn the shameful and unacceptable treatment meted out to our Members of Parliament. Dragging elected representatives on the streets for exercising their democratic right to protest outside the Home Minister’s office is not law enforcement — it is arrogance in uniform. This is a democracy, not the BJP’s private property,” the Chief Minister wrote.
According to party sources, the MPs were protesting against what they described as the systematic misuse of central investigative agencies by the Centre to target opposition leaders and organisations linked to them.
Political Tempers Rise Ahead of 2026 Elections
The ED action against Pratik Jain, whose organisation I-PAC has been closely associated with TMC’s electoral strategies, has added fuel to an already charged political atmosphere in West Bengal. The TMC has consistently alleged that central agencies such as the ED and CBI are being selectively deployed against opposition-ruled states, especially in the run-up to elections.
BJP leaders, however, have rejected the allegations, maintaining that central agencies are acting independently and strictly as per law.
With the 2026 Assembly elections approaching, the latest developments indicate that political confrontations between the TMC and the BJP are likely to intensify further, both in West Bengal and at the national level.
