Trinamool dubs ED raids ‘politically motivated’, accuses BJP of ‘vendetta politics’

Kolkata: Following the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids at the residences of its leaders, Trinamool Congress (TMC) has accused the BJP-led Central government of misusing central agencies for “vendetta politics” ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Teams of ED carried out a search operation from early Friday morning at the residences of state fire minister Sujit Bose, MLA Tapas Roy and former chairman of North Dum Dum Municipality Subodh Chakraborty in connection with the alleged municipal recruitment scam.

The central agency teams were escorted by a large number of Central force personnel after they were attacked the last during their raid at Sandeshkhali in North 24-Parganas.

In such a context, the state BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari told the media that these TMC leaders ought to start packing their bags and alleged that it is obvious that central probe agencies will visit the homes of “thieves”.

Reacting to the day’s development, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: “Such raids are politically motivated and are being conducted at the behest of the BJP who are sending these agencies a list of their political opponents. They are trying to create a negative impression of TMC in the minds of the people,” he alleged.

He added that Sujit Bose has been given by the party the organisational charge for Dum Dum and Basirhat ahead of the polls and hence the raid at his place on Friday. “This shows that BJP cannot politically fight TMC,” he alleged.

Kunal questioned why the central investigative agencies were not conducting such raids at the residence of state BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari who is allegedly named in the FIR in the Narada bribery case. His allegations were also echoed by the TMC leader Shashi Panja who also called the ED raids “politically motivated”.

TMC leader Firhad Hakim said it is obvious that such raids are becoming frequent before the3 Lok Sabha polls indicating that the BJP is certain that it cannot politically fight TMC. “We have to continue to do our work for the people. There is no reason to feel intimidated by such misuse of central agencies by the BJP,” he claimed.

TMC wrote on X: “ScarED. RattlED. FrightenED. Riddled with internal strife, @BJP4India knows it all too well that they do not possess the organisational fortitude to challenge us politically. They understand that winning North 24 Parganas is a pipe dream. And that is exactly what has compelled them to, time and again, misuse Central Investigative Agencies to harass our leaders in a desperate bid to gain an upper hand!”