The Trinamool Congress (TMC) launched a sharp attack on the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday, accusing the central agency of selective targeting and questioning why its focus was on strategist Pratik Jain and not his former boss, Prashant Kishor.
Allegations of Political Motive Behind ED's Actions
Party spokesperson Arup Chakraborty pointed out that the ED's complaint pertains to events from 2020, a period when Prashant Kishor was leading the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC). He demanded to know why Kishor was not being investigated if the agency's actions were impartial. "The answer is simple," Chakraborty stated. "Jain is now helping Trinamool with its party strategy. And Kishor, with his Jan Suraaj party in Bihar, divided opposition votes, which helped BJP."
The "Real Target": Party Strategy and Data
Chakraborty went further, alleging that the ED's true objective was not financial scrutiny but accessing sensitive internal party documents. "The cat is now out of the bag. ED's real target was Trinamool's candidate list, the party's strategy documents and SIR-related data," he claimed. He reiterated that the complaint revolves around I-PAC's activities in Goa, which were under Kishor's leadership at the time.
While the TMC's discomfort with Kishor became apparent after the party's third consecutive electoral victory in 2021, they had refrained from public criticism of the Jan Suraaj founder until now. Kishor has since parted ways with I-PAC to launch his own political venture in Bihar.
Mamata Banerjee's Veiled Reference
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also made a brief but significant reference to the controversy during her speech at Hazra crossing on Friday. She noted the shifting allegiances within the political consultancy sphere. "When Narendra Modi became Prime Minister in 2014, I-PAC worked for him. Back then, Prashant Kishor was there. Now Prashant is not there. Pratik oversees it," the CM remarked, highlighting the perceived inconsistency in the probe's focus.
The TMC's forceful allegations frame the ED's actions as a politically motivated move aimed at undermining the party's strategic preparations by targeting a key associate while ignoring the figure who was in charge during the period under investigation.
