.
KOLKATA: Opposition parties accused BJP of weaponising central agencies after ED searches at I-PAC’s office and the home of its chief Pratik Jain over alleged links to a coal scam triggered Thursday a fierce political showdown in Bengal. ED has not publicly responded to the allegations. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said the action showed BJP was “losing badly in Bengal” calling the search “the first proof” of its anxiety over the 2026 assembly elections. CPM and Congress condemned BJP but also questioned CM Mamata Banerjee’s conduct during the search. Pradesh Congress president Subhankar Sarkar flagged the timing, asking why I-PAC, active in Bengal for years, was targeted now. “Are they trying to intimidate Pratik Jain? Are they trying to get hold of documents that Jain has?” he said. CPM state secretary Mohammad Salim raised legal concerns over Banerjee’s presence. “We saw her taking out files and laptops. We saw police loading documents in a Trinamool neta’s car. That cannot be beyond question,” Salim said, demanding cases against “errant officials and the CM”. Sarkar alleged a BJP-Trinamool binary aimed at deflecting attention from “joblessness, inflation and livelihood”, and from alleged harassment of Bengali-speaking people in other states. He pointed to past cases, including Saradha and Narada, claiming Trinamool politicians allegedly switched sides under pressure. BJP hit back sharply. Leader of opposition in state assembly Suvendu Adhikari called Banerjee’s visit to Jain’s Loudon Street residence during the ED search “unethical, unconstitutional and direct interference”.
