Mamata Banerjee leads street protest, accuses Centre of misusing ED | WATCH

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee on Friday led a major protest march in Kolkata against the Enforcement Directorate’s search and seizure operations at the residence and offices of I-PAC chief Pratik Jain.

Banerjee was joined by senior party leaders, ministers, MPs, MLAs and a large number of supporters as the march began from the 8B Bus Stand area. Supporters raised slogans against the BJP-led central government, accusing it of “misusing central agencies for political vendetta” ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.

The rally is moving towards Hazra More, a day after Banerjee’s dramatic visit to Jain’s Loudon Street residence while ED officials were conducting search operations there on Thursday. During the visit, Banerjee alleged that the agency was attempting to seize Trinamool Congress’ internal documents, hard disks and confidential organisational data unrelated to any financial investigation.

In addition to leading the street protest, Banerjee also posted a strong message on X, condemning the treatment of opposition MPs during protests in Delhi. She wrote that dragging elected representatives “is not law enforcement — it is arrogance in uniform,” asserting that India is “a democracy, not the BJP’s private property.”

She further said, "Let it be clear: respect is mutual. You respect us, we respect you. You drag us on the road, and we will drag you back to the constitutional idea of tolerance, dissent, and democratic morality. This is our India. We are citizens by right, not at the mercy of a chair, a badge, or a position of power. No government, no party, and no Home Minister gets to decide who deserves dignity in a democracy."

In a related development, the Calcutta High Court on Friday adjourned the scheduled hearing of cases connected to the ED’s search and seizure operations at I-PAC’s office due to unmanageable chaos inside the courtroom.