Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee strongly condemned the treatment of Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders during a protest outside Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s office in Delhi, calling it “arrogance in uniform” and an assault on democratic rights. She accused authorities of humiliating elected representatives who were protesting against Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids linked to political consultancy firm I-PAC and vowed that her party would not be silenced.
TMC MPs including Mahua Moitra, Derek O’Brien, Satabdi Roy, Bapi Haldar, Saket Gokhale, Pratima Mondal, Kirti Azad and Dr. Sharmila Sarkar staged a demonstration outside Amit Shah’s office on Friday. Delhi Police detained and forcefully removed several of them, including visibly lifting and dragging Moitra and O’Brien into police vehicles — footage from the scene showing the dramatic turn of events.
Banerjee took to social media to denounce the police action, saying that dragging lawmakers for peacefully exercising their democratic right was unacceptable and reflected a double standard in how dissent is treated under the current government. She accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of expecting “red carpet treatment” for its protests while subjecting opposition leaders to harsh tactics.
The protest was triggered by ED raids earlier this week on the Kolkata office and the residence of Pratik Jain, head of I-PAC, which provides political consultancy, including IT and media support, to the TMC. Mamata Banerjee has framed the raids as politically motivated, alleging that central agencies are being misused to disrupt her party’s electoral preparations ahead of the West Bengal Assembly polls. She claimed that sensitive party documents, data, and strategy files were being targeted.
In response to the raids and the confrontation in Delhi, Banerjee has announced further protest actions, including a rally in Kolkata. The TMC has criticised what it calls the “shameless misuse” of investigative agencies, while central authorities maintain that the ED actions are part of a lawful investigation unrelated to electoral politics.
