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Informist, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026

 

 

NEW DELHI – Trinamool Congress lawmaker Mahua Moitra Thursday equated the raid by the Enforcement Directorate on political strategy firm I-PAC office and its head Pratik Jain's home with that of Watergate scandal in the US, and alleged that the central agency was trying to "burgle" her party's assets on behalf of the BJP. Jain is also the head of the Trinamool Congress information technology cell.

 

The Enforcement Directorate Thursday raided 10 premises of the firm--six in West Bengal and four in Delhi--under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act in connection with a coal smuggling case.

 

"What we have seen today is a case of political burglary and espionage," Moitra said. "The ED is raiding the offices of Pratik Jain and I-PAC on the pretext of getting information of a 10-year-old scam. Do you think there's going to be any information related to 10-year-old case on the electronic devices of Pratik Jain?"

 

"What is there on those devices of I-PAC is the election strategy and contemporaneous data of the Trinamool Congress, which the ED was to politically burgle," said the Lok Sabha member from Krishnanagar, West Bengal.

When the report of the Enforcement Directorate raid in Kolkata emerged, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rushed first to Jain's residence and then the I-PAC office, and retrieved a hard drive, a few documents and a phone handset. 
 

"Is it the duty of the ED and Amit Shah, the nasty home minister, the naughty home minister, who cannot protect the country? He is taking away all my party documents because there is election (in West Bengal). If I raid the BJP office, what will be the result?" a furious Mamata told mediapersons outside Jain's residence.

 

The Enforcement Directorate, meanwhile, denied any foul play and said the raid had nothing to do with elections.

 

"The search action was undertaken in a peaceful manner till the arrival of Chief Minister of West Bengal along with police personnel and officers of West Bengal administration who forcibly removed physical documents and electronic evidences from two of the premises," the ED said in a statement.

 

"The search is evidence based and is not targeted at any political establishment. No party office has been searched. The search is not linked to any elections, and is part of regular crackdown on money laundering," the agency added.

 

Moitra defended her party supremo's action and said that Mamata Banerjee was fully justified in protecting the party's property.

 

"Mamata Banerjee, as head of our party, has gone and retrieved what is our party's property, be it our political strategy, candidates' list, our documents. The ED had no business going in and trying to get them on behalf of the BJP," Moitra said.

 

She said that the nearest parallel to this was the Watergate scandal in the US when the government tried to illegally get hold of medical records of its political opponents. President Richard Nixon had to resign in the aftermath.  End

 

 

Reported by Asim Khan

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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