ED targeted I-PAC as it was assisting Trinamool's poll strategy, claims Abhishek Banerjee

Kolkata, Jan 9 Trinamool Congress general secretary and party Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee on Friday claimed that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had "deliberately" targeted the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) as the agency was assisting the Trinamool Congress with its poll strategy and also helping the party during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in the state.

He also accused the ED of being habitual in harassing Trinamool Congress leaders, including him and his family members, for quite some time.

“Previously, they unnecessarily harassed me, my wife, my children and my parents. The Assembly election in the state is ahead. So again, there will be attempts to harass us through these central investigative agencies. But neither I nor anyone in the Trinamool Congress will succumb to such pressures from New Delhi,” Abhishek Banerjee said while addressing a public meeting at Taherpur in Nadia district of West Bengal on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion, he also said that voters from the Matua community, who constitute a substantial section of the electorate in Nadia district, would not be hoodwinked by assurances from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) regarding their citizenship and voting rights.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal unit of the BJP on Wednesday sent a petition to Governor C.V. Ananda Bose against Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, alleging that she created hindrances to ED officials while they were performing their duties during simultaneous raid and search operations on Thursday at the office of the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) at Salt Lake on the northern outskirts of Kolkata and at the residence of I-PAC co-founder Pratik Jain at Loudon Street in central Kolkata.

The state BJP also sought the Governor's intervention in initiating necessary action against administrative and police officers who accompanied the Chief Minister on Thursday during her alleged attempts to obstruct the ED’s operations.

In its petition to the Governor, the BJP further claimed that there is no constitutional provision authorising any Chief Minister to hover over an ongoing investigation and convert a law enforcement action into a political show.

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