New Delhi, January 9. Eight Members of Parliament from the Trinamool Congress (TMC) staged a protest outside the office of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in the national capital on Friday. The MPs displayed posters reading, “Bengal rejects Modi-Shah’s dirty politics,” accusing the central government of targeting opposition parties through central agencies.
The protesting MPs included Derek O’Brien, Shatabdi Roy, Mahua Moitra, Bapi Halder, Saket Gokhale, Pratima Mandal, Kirti Azad, and Dr. Sharmila Tagore. This demonstration was held ahead of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s rally in Kolkata, which is set to address the Enforcement Directorate‘s (ED) raid on the political consultancy firm I-PAC.
During the protest, the TMC MPs raised slogans and alleged that the BJP-led central government was misusing investigative agencies to harass opposition parties ahead of elections. They were seen holding posters expressing their dissent.
Derek O’Brien and Mahua Moitra were taken into custody by police while protesting outside the Home Minister’s office, following attempts by security personnel to prevent the demonstrators from entering the premises. After their detention, O’Brien questioned, “Why are we being detained? Look at what Amit Shah’s Delhi Police is doing. You can see what is happening to the MPs. All of our MPs have been detained.”
This protest followed the ED’s raid on Thursday at I-PAC’s Kolkata office and the residence of its chief and co-founder, Pratik Jain. Reportedly, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the raid sites and accused the central agency of attempting to “loot” sensitive documents related to the TMC.
On Banerjee’s call, TMC leaders and workers organized protests across the state on Thursday evening, condemning the ED’s actions against I-PAC and its director, Pratik Jain.
