The recent raids by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the offices of political consultancy I-PAC in Kolkata have ignited a major political controversy in West Bengal, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleging a brazen attempt to access her party's election strategy. The action, occurring just months before the crucial 2026 State Assembly elections, is being widely perceived as a political maneuver that may have inadvertently strengthened the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).
A Question of Timing and Intent
On January 8, 2026, ED officials conducted searches at the Kolkata offices of I-PAC and the residence of its director, Pratik Jain. The agency linked the raids to a five-year-old alleged coal scam case registered in 2020. However, the timing raised immediate red flags. I-PAC has been a known strategic partner of the All India Trinamool Congress since 2019, making the pre-election action deeply suspicious.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did not mince words, accusing the ED of using the investigation as a pretext to seize confidential documents and data related to the TMC's upcoming election campaign. This allegation gains weight in light of a pointed observation made by the Supreme Court of India in July 2025. A bench led by then-Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran had questioned why the ED was "being used for political battles."
The ED's Troubling Track Record
Data presented by the Finance Ministry in the Rajya Sabha in July 2025 reveals significant concerns about the agency's efficiency. In the decade between 2015 and 2025, the ED registered 5,892 cases for investigation. Of these, only 1,398 (24%) reached the courts, and trials had begun in a mere 300 (5%) cases. The conviction rate is staggeringly low, with only eight (0.14%) cases resulting in a conviction over ten years.
This poor record, combined with a pattern of selective leaks of information to sympathetic media channels, has fueled accusations that the ED's primary mandate has shifted. Opposition parties allege it is now used as a tool for political vendetta, to intimidate rivals using the stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), rather than to secure convictions for financial crimes.
Political Repercussions and Electoral Calculus
The BJP's strategy for the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections appears to be in flux. The party had initially pinned its hopes on the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists to alter the electoral landscape. As that hope dimmed, analysts suggest the party has fallen back on leveraging central investigative agencies.
This tactic, however, seems to have boomeranged. Instead of weakening Mamata Banerjee—a three-term Chief Minister with formidable popularity—the raids have galvanized her party and provided a narrative of political victimization. The BJP's challenge in Bengal remains steep, having failed to defeat the combined appeal of Mamata and her nephew, Abhishek Banerjee, despite gains in the 2021 polls that decimated the Congress and CPI(M).
By attempting to deploy central agencies in a political fight, the BJP may have handed the TMC a potent campaign issue on a platter. The episode underscores a growing national debate about the weaponization of government institutions and has potentially solidified Mamata Banerjee's position as a leader capable of standing up to central pressure. As the political temperature rises in Bengal, the fallout from these raids is likely to resonate far beyond the state's borders.
