Kolkata, Jan 8 (NationPress) In response to a call from party leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, members of the Trinamool Congress organized protest rallies throughout the state on Thursday evening to express their disapproval of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids at the Kolkata office of political consultancy I-PAC and the home of its director and co-founder, Pratik Jain.

Banerjee initiated the protest after visiting the I-PAC office located in Salt Lake, Kolkata, earlier in the day. She instructed party units to conduct protest marches in every block and neighborhood statewide that same evening.

In Kolkata, Trinamool Congress councillor Baiswanor Chatterjee spearheaded a protest at Hazra Crossing in south Kolkata, where party members carried placards and shouted slogans against central agencies. Similar demonstrations took place across various parts of the city.

At Dinendra Street in the Maniktala area of north Kolkata, Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh joined a procession while using a wheelchair, holding a placard that criticized both the ED and the CBI. During the event, he claimed that central agencies were being weaponized to target the Trinamool Congress ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.

“The BJP is manipulating central agencies against our party. These raids, masquerading as investigations, merely reveal their political vulnerability,” he stated.

Party workers also conducted protest marches from Surendra Nath College in north Kolkata and along Bentinck Street, voicing their discontent against the BJP and central agencies.

In the Nanoor block of Birbhum district, Trinamool leaders led a protest, alleging a plot to seize party-related documents under the guise of an investigation. In South 24 Parganas district, a substantial procession was organized in Bhangar, led by Canning East MLA Saokat Molla.

Similar protests were reported from various districts, including Baidyabati, Serampore, Singur, Arambagh, Haripal, and Tarakeshwar in Hooghly district, as well as Ghatal in West Midnapore district and Berhampore in Murshidabad district.

The ED executed search operations at the Salt Lake Sector V office of I-PAC, which has been serving as a political consultancy for the Trinamool Congress since 2019. ED teams also conducted searches at Pratik Jain's residence on Loudon Street.

After the searches, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited Jain’s residence in central Kolkata. Upon leaving, she was observed carrying documents and a laptop, asserting they belonged to the Trinamool Congress and were connected to the party’s forthcoming Assembly elections.

Banerjee then proceeded to the I-PAC office in Salt Lake. During her visit, police officials accompanying her were seen transferring files and diaries from the office into her vehicle.

The Chief Minister accused the ED, under the pretense of conducting raids, of having “looted” essential documents regarding the party’s election strategies, candidate lists, internal information, and financial records.