"Take me on, democratically": Mamata's challenge to BJP amid ED raid on I-PAC, agency says CM misused position

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], January 8 (ANI): Issuing a direct challenge to the BJP and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee dared him to come to the state and take her on democratically, amidst the ongoing confrontation between TMC and BJP ahead of forthcoming elections.
Her remarks came in the wake of a dramatic episode at the Kolkata office of political consultancy firm I-PAC, which was raided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the alleged fake government job scam.
Mamata Banerjee visited the I-PAC office in the middle of the road and accused the central agency of unlawfully seizing party-related data, laptops, mobile phones, and strategic documents.
"If Amit Shah wants Bengal, then come, fight democratically, and win. Everyone must know what kind of operation has been carried out. Starting at 6:00 a.m., they arrived and seized the party's data, laptops, strategies, and mobile phones. Their forensic experts transferred all the data. I believe this is a crime," Mamata Banerjee said.
The Chief Minister asserted that I-PAC is not a private entity but an authorised team working for the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). She alleged that the ED confiscated sensitive documents, including data related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
"This is not a private organisation. This is the authorised team of the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC). They looted all papers and data, including a large amount of information related to SIR. We are a registered political party. We submit our income tax regularly. If the ED requires any information, they can obtain it from the Income Tax Department. Why was there a raid on our party's IT department?," Mamata Banerjee said.
Banerjee also raised concerns over the alleged deletion of voter names during the SIR process, claiming that 54 lakh names had been removed from the voter list under the pretext of "logical discrepancies." She alleged that women and young voters were disproportionately affected and claimed that even economist Amartya Sen had received a notice.
"In the name of SIR, they have deleted many names from the voter list. Even Amartya Sen was sent a notice. Why have the names of maximum women voters been deleted? Why the youth? They are not being allowed to vote. What kind of so-called "logical discrepancy" is this? In the name of "logical discrepancy," they have removed 54 lakh names from the voter list," Mamata said.
Escalating her attack, Banerjee claimed that 72 people had died due to stress and consequences linked to the SIR process and held the BJP responsible.
"Why did you raid our party's IT department? Why did you take all papers and data? Why did you delete 54 lakh names? Because of the stress and consequences of SIR, 72 people have died. Who is responsible for their deaths? The BJP is a killer party," Mamata Banerjee said.
Meanwhile, the ED sources have said that the raids are not politically motivated and are being conducted in accordance with established legal safeguards. The ED said that certain people including constitutional functionaries have come to 2 premises (out of 10), intruded illegally by misusing their position and snatched away the documents.
The nationwide searches are being conducted against an organised gang involved in a fake government job scam that duped aspirants by offering fraudulent appointments across multiple government departments.
The raids began early this morning at 15 locations across India. The agency's Patna Zonal office is conducting the search operations at three places in Bihar, two in West Bengal, four in Kerala, one in Tamil Nadu, one in Gujarat, and four in Uttar Pradesh in close coordination with state police forces.
The places being searched included Muzaffarpur (one) and Motihari (two) in Bihar; Kolkata (two) in West Bengal; one each in Ernakulam, Pandalam, Adoor and Kodur in Kerala; Chennai (one) in Tamil Nadu; Rajkot (one) in Gujarat; and Gorakhpur (two), Prayagraj (one) and Lucknow (one) in Uttar Pradesh. (ANI)