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KOLKATA: TMC alleged on Friday ED was targeting I-PAC’s current chief Pratik Jain, not its founder Prashant Kishor, in its coal scam-linked probe and that the move was linked to the latter’s role in “helping BJP” in Nov 2025 Bihar elections. “This ED complaint dates back to 2020. Who was at the helm of I-PAC then? It was Prashant Kishor. Then why is Pratik Jain being targeted by ED and not Kishor? The answer is simple. Jain is now helping TMC with its party strategy. And Kishor, with his Jan Suraaj party in Bihar, divided opposition votes, which helped BJP,” Trinamool spokesperson Arup Chakraborty said. Chakraborty claimed ED’s raids on I-PAC betrayed its real motives. “ED’s complaint refers to events that took place in Goa, when Kishor was leading I-PAC. The cat is now out of the bag. ED’s real target was TMC’s candidate list, strategy documents and SIR-related data,” Chakraborty said. While TMC’s unease with Kishor was evident in 2021 after the party came to office for a third time, the party has never publicly spoken against him. Kishor parted ways with I-PAC to float Jan Suraaj in 2024. Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee referred to Kishor on Friday fleetingly during her protest march against ED’s raids. “When Narendra Modi became PM in 2014, I-PAC worked for him. Back then, Kishor was there. Now he is not there. Pratik oversees it,” the CM said.
