tmc-mps-detained-after-protest-outside-amit-shah-s-home

Drama unfolded in the heart of the national capital on Friday as high-profile Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders, including Mahua Moitra and Derek O’Brien, were hauled away by Delhi Police. The MPs were detained while staging a high-decibel protest outside Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s residence and office, sparked by the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) recent raids on the Kolkata offices of I-PAC— the political consultancy firm that handles the TMC’s election strategy.

 

The air was thick with slogans like “Bengal rejects Modi-Shah’s dirty politics" as the protesters accused the Centre of using federal agencies as a "political hit squad" ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections. Mahua Moitra didn't mince words, alleging that the ED wasn't there to investigate financial crimes but to "steal" the party's confidential strategic data. TMC MP Kirti Azad went a step further, claiming the raids were a desperate move by the BJP because their internal surveys allegedly show them struggling to cross even 25 seats in the upcoming polls.

What kind of arrogance is this, @AmitShah ?

Are you now using your Delhi Police to assault elected representatives just to crush democracy? Is this how dissent is silenced in your India?

Admit it, YOU ARE RATTLED!

First, the shameless misuse of the ED. Now, an attack on the… pic.twitter.com/EMapOqkgKh

— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) January 9, 2026

Back in Kolkata, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee took the fight to the streets herself. On Thursday, she personally visited the I-PAC office during the search, accusing the agency of trying to seize hard disks and candidate lists. “Is it the duty of the ED or Amit Shah to collect a party’s candidate list?” she asked, calling the Home Minister "nasty and naughty" for allegedly failing to protect the country while obsessing over her party documents. She even linked the raids to a broader plot, claiming that voter names are being systematically deleted in the state through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

 

Unsurprisingly, the BJP hit back hard. Amit Malviya questioned why the West Bengal state police were seen moving files from the I-PAC office into Mamata Banerjee’s private car during a federal raid. Malviya’s point was sharp: if those were party documents, why were state-funded police handling them? And if they were state government documents, what were they doing in a private consultancy office? According to him, the whole episode shows a "complete collapse" of the line between the TMC and the West Bengal government.

 

Also read: Mamata to protest against ED raids on I-PAC office