The Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday demanded “immediate and unconditional” release of I-PAC co-founder and director Vinesh Chandel, calling the ED’s late Monday night action to arrest him “extremely desperate”.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Chandel from New Delhi in a money-laundering case linked to an alleged coal scam in the poll-bound West Bengal.
Indian Political Action Committee or I-PAC is the consultancy firm hired by the TMC for the West Bengal Assembly polls.
Raising concerns over the “misuse” of the central investigating agencies ahead of the Assembly elections, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien and state finance minister Chandrima Bhattacharya hit out at the BJP-led government at the Centre.
Speaking to reporters at Trinamool Bhavan in Kolkata, O’Brien said, “We demand immediate and unconditional release of Vinesh Chandel. Agencies like the Enforcement Directorate are increasingly being used as political instruments rather than (acting as) impartial bodies.”
“The ED has now renamed themselves as ‘extremely desperate’ by their actions. But despite all these, their political masters, the BJP, will end up losing in the West Bengal Assembly polls,” he added.
Meanwhile, without mentioning Chandel, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, during an election rally in Howrah district’s Domjur on Tuesday, accused the BJP of using intimidation tactics. The chief minister called the BJP “dacoit, thief, rogue, and vote-chor (vote-thief).
“You criminals are arresting my people in the middle of the night…It won’t matter,” she asserted, adding that if one of their members is arrested, “lakhs will come out in support” of the party.
Meanwhile, in Kolkata, O’Brien said the ED action was nothing short of misusing the Constitution. He said 0.1 per cent of 5,900 cases under the PMLA had been convicted, which shows the ED is being used against the Opposition for political reasons by the BJP government to harass political opponents before elections.
Calling the situation deeply troubling, he remarked, “…it’s a political tool, we all know,” suggesting that Opposition leaders were being selectively targeted.
Labelling it as “Nirma effect”, O’Brien remarked, “23 out of 25 Opposition leaders in corruption cases suddenly become clean once they join the BJP. They are given a packet of Nirma and are all washed.”
He demanded that central agencies be withdrawn from West Bengal in the run-up to the elections, arguing that their presence could influence the democratic process. “We demand that the Central agencies be withdrawn from Bengal ahead of the polls as it is essential for ensuring free and fair elections,” he added.
Hitting out at the BJP, Chandrima Bhattacharya said: “They are trying to see how they can have less of a humiliating defeat. By chance, if they end up with less than 47 seats, that will be too bad for them.”
Soon after Chandel was arrested on Monday night, TMC general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, in a post on X, wrote, “The arrest of Vinesh Chandel barely 10 days before the Bengal elections, is not just alarming- It shakes the very idea of a level playing field.”
“At a time when West Bengal should be moving toward free and fair elections, this kind of action sends a chilling message: If you work with the Opposition, you could be next. That’s not democracy- that’s intimidation!” he added.
“What makes it even harder to ignore is the double standard. Those facing serious corruption allegations seem to find protection the moment they switch sides, while others are swiftly targeted at politically convenient moments,” Abhishek, who is considered number 2 in the party, said.
“People are not blind to this anymore. When institutions meant to protect democracy start feeling like tools of pressure, trust begins to erode. On one side, the Election Commission. On the other hand, agencies like the ED, NIA, and CBI are stepping in at the most sensitive time. It creates an atmosphere of fear, not fairness,” he wrote.
“India has always taken pride in its democracy- loud, messy but free. But today, many are beginning to ask: are we still that country? This is bigger than one arrest. It is about whether our institutions remain independent and whether every citizen, no matter their political belief, can participate without fear,” he said, adding, “Because once fear replaces freedom, democracy becomes just a word”.