New Delhi [India], January 9 : Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury questioned the intent behind the TMC protests held on Friday in the national capital against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid on the I-PAC office in Kolkata. He said that the TMC felt the need to protest when the ED search operation took place, but the MPs never protested for "migrant workers from Bengal", who, according to him, get attacked on the pretext of "being Bangladeshi" and "forced them to flee".
Speaking to ANI, he said, "Perhaps a few of their (TMC) party MPs are still in Delhi. After yesterday's incident, they felt they should stage a protest. My question is, when migrant workers from Bengal go to work in various parts of India and are attacked on the pretext of being Bangladeshi, forcing them to flee, we haven't seen any protest from the TMC party, neither inside nor outside Parliament. Now, because the ED has taken action, they feel they should protest. This can only be called seeking electoral advantage."
He mentioned the ongoing protests as a way to seek an "electoral advantage" from the TMC.
Earlier, several Trinamool Congress (TMC) MPs were detained in the national capital on Friday for protesting outside Union Home Minister Amit Shah's office against the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raid on the I-PAC office in Kolkata, alleging misuse of the probe agency by the centre.
TMC MPs Derek O'Brien, Satabdi Roy, Mahua Moitra, Kirti Azad, and others protested outside Amit Shah's office in Delhi, raising slogans against the minister.
As this happened, the Delhi police detained Derek O'Brien, Mahua Moitra, and others, lifting them up and dragging them to the police van.
Derek O Brien, as he was dragged to the floor by police personnel, said, "You are seeing what is happening to the MPs here"
Mahua Moitra, who the police lifted from the protest spot, said, "We will defeat the BJP. The country is seeing how the Delhi Police is treating an elected MP."
Protesting the ED raid, TMC MP Satabdi Roy said the centre deploys its investigative agencies during elections to win.
"They sent the team of ED yesterday, and they remember everything during the time of elections. They send the teams of ED, CBI during the elections just to win, but they won't win the election," he added.
TMC MP Kirti Azad said, "ED conducted the raids in the wrong way, and this is an attempt to win the elections in an undemocratic manner. The BJP will not win the elections in this manner."
This comes after West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee allegedly interfered during an ED raid at the offices of political consultancy firm I-PAC in connection with the coal smuggling case.
Banerjee alleged that the central agency had seized party-related materials, including hard disks, candidate lists and strategic documents, and accused Amit Shah of misusing central agencies.
"Is it the duty of the ED, Amit Shah, to collect the party's hard disk, candidate list? The nasty, naughty Home Minister who cannot protect the country is taking away all my party documents," Banerjee said while speaking to reporters.
Issuing a direct challenge to the BJP and Shah, the Chief Minister dared him to come to West Bengal and fight her democratically.
"If Amit Shah wants Bengal, then come, fight democratically, and win. Everyone must know what kind of operation has been carried out. At 6:00 am, they arrived and seized the party's data, laptops, strategies, and mobile phones. Their forensic experts transferred all the data. I believe this is a crime," she said.
Banerjee asserted that I-PAC was not a private organisation, but an authorised team working for the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). She alleged that the ED had confiscated sensitive documents, including data linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Countering the Chief Minister's allegations, the ED accused Mamata Banerjee of entering the residential premises of Prateek Jain, director of I-PAC, during the ongoing search operation and taking away "key evidence", including physical documents and electronic devices.
"Banerjee entered the residential premises of Prateek Jain and took away key evidence, including physical documents and electronic devices," the ED said, adding that her convoy then proceeded to I-PAC's office, from where "Ms Banerjee, her aides and the state police personnel forcibly removed physical documents and electronic evidence."