ED–TMC Standoff Reaches Amit Shah’s Office; Mahua Moitra, Other MPs Detained During Protest

The ongoing standoff between the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Trinamool Congress (TMC) escalated on Friday as party leaders took their protest to the doorstep of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, following Thursday’s dramatic ED raids at the Kolkata offices and residence of I-PAC chief Pratik Jain.

Eight TMC MPs, including Mahua Moitra, Derek O’Brien, Satabdi Roy, Bapi Haldar, Saket Gokhale, Pratima Mondal, Kirti Azad, and Dr. Sharmila Sarkar, staged a dharna outside Shah’s office in Delhi on Friday morning. They held placards and raised slogans accusing the Centre of misusing investigative agencies to target opposition parties ahead of elections. Visuals showed MPs displaying signs reading, “Bengal rejects Modi-Shah’s dirty politics.”

The protest was sparked by ED raids on I-PAC, which handles TMC’s political consultancy, IT, and media operations. On Thursday, Mamata Banerjee rushed to the raid sites in Kolkata, alleging that the agency was “looting” sensitive party documents. Dramatic footage circulated on social media showing Banerjee dodging media personnel while holding documents she claimed to have retrieved.

Banerjee accused the BJP-led central government of engaging in a “political vendetta” and described Union Home Minister Amit Shah as “naughty”, claiming the raids were an attempt to intimidate opposition parties ahead of elections.

“This is not law enforcement. Is this how the nastiest and naughty home minister functions, who cannot protect the country and is sending agencies to harass before elections?” Banerjee said after visiting Jain’s residence.

The ED stated that the raids were linked to individuals allegedly involved in coal smuggling and money laundering.