On the ground, TMC counts sympathy ‘gains’ after I-T raids
Times of India | 19 April 2026
Kolkata: Friday's 15-hour-long I-T raid on Debashis Kumar's house gave the seasoned politician a shot in the arm as the party activists touring neighbourhoods across Rashbehari constituency (after the release of the leader) felt the Trinamool Congress would gain public sympathy because of the long hours of grilling of the candidate with a ‘political motive'.
Kumar himself was eager to ride on this sympathy wave as within half an hour after his release, the Trinamool Rashbehari candidate decided to compensate for the loss of campaign hours and rushed to KP Roy Lane, a neighbourhood located off Tollygunge Circular Road, to address the electorate who might prove to be effective in ensuring a lead in the ensuing assembly polls from Ward 89.
On Saturday, Kumar made a whirlwind tour of five KMC wards under the Rashbehari constituency. His campaign that was kicked off from Gharighar opposite Charu Market police station rolled on to several neighbourhoods that include Sadananda Road, Hazra, Rajani Sen Road, Bowali Mondal Road, Pratapaditya Road, Lake View Road and Garcha Road, among others.
According to Kesto Manna, a Trinamool Congress election campaigner, the ordeal that Kumar faced proved to be a blessing in disguise for the party as voters started questioning the motive of the I-T raid without divulging the outcome of the raid. "If an incumbent MLA is held hostage at his own home for 15 hours in the name of questioning or searching and later the central govt officials don't come clear on the outcome of the raid, the voters have every right to question the raid. Our candidate has started gaining sympathy among a section of voters and that will benefit him in the days to come," said Manna.
Arijit Mitra, a resident of Monoharpukur Road, also felt Trinamool would benefit from the simultaneous I-T raids on the party's offices. "The I-T department has every right to conduct raids on persons engaged in financial scams. But we doubt the time and motive of such drives. With elections round the corner, such raids might be a tool to intimidate the ruling party candidates," said Mitra.
Kumar himself appeared to be his usual self as he went door-to-door. "I don't have to condemn the raid on my house and party offices, it is there for all to fathom what the motive of the raid was. The raid, however, made me determined to reach out to more people on whom I rely to win the battle. People in some places have now started receiving me with more warmth. I am now going from door to door with my messages. I have covered almost 75% of the electorate of my constituency. The rest will be covered very soon," said Kumar.
Meanwhile, Miraj Shah — a frontine chartered accountant and vice-chairman and governing body member of The Bhawanipur Education Society College who was the poll nomination proposer for Mamata Banerjee and whose house had also been raided by I-T officers on Friday — conveyed to all his colleagues that the officers had been to his residence and affirmed his commitment to full transparency and compliance.