Shikha Mukrjee | Mamata, ED, I-PAC: A Masterclass In Politics

Since raids by the Enforcement Directorate have become the norm rather than the exception, mainly in Opposition-ruled states, trashing the explanation that such raids are coincidence, take the instances of Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest, Hemant Soren’s arrest and the notices to Abhishek Banerjee, the TMC’s national general secretary, during the campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha, the arrests and investigations in Maharashtra, Bihar, Haryana and Chhattisgarh, the inevitable probable suspicion is such raids are a way of emphasising the link between criminality, corruption and politicians.

The speculation in Kolkata was who, next, will the ED raid, before the West Bengal Assembly election was announced by the Election Commission. And predictably it did; its target was a shock, because it pounced on the Indian Political Action Committee’s local office and residence of its chief Pratik Jain.

I-PAC is not just India’s largest political consultancy company. It is the Trinamul Congress’s data and strategy backbone and backroom; it has, according to Mamata Banerjee, sensitive and confidential information on her party’s organisation, potential candidates for the forthcoming election and data on the process and progress of the controversial Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls that is geared to “purify” the voters list of illegal migrants and “ghosts” masquerading as voters.

For the few hours between the raid’s beginning and Mamata Banerjee’s arrival on the scene like a fury unleashed, it seemed the ED had pulled off a first-mover advantage, much like a swoop by a corporate raider. Then there was the pushback.

Adversity became opportunity for Ms Banerjee, who reset the narrative and the nation became witness to how politics can be played from a position of disadvantage. She raided the raider.

It was a masterclass in how the Opposition to the BJP can act, when the chips only appear to be down. She snatched “files”, “data”, by interrupting the ED’s raid, which she called “theft”. The accusation was simple; ED was raiding I-PAC in search of evidence connecting the company to coal smuggling and money laundering. In Ms Banerjee’s view, the ED was stealing data about the Trinamul Congress.

The chronology of events matters; it played out at breathless speed at the end of which the ED’s role was shunted into a distant corner, except when its plea against Ms Banerjee and the West Bengal government is heard in the Supreme Court. Its already sullied reputation as one of the “agencies” that works when prodded by the ruling regime has taken another blow; it is fast becoming both a sinister operator as well as laughing stock on social media. Ruined credibility of government institutions points to an induced breakdown of the proper order of things, when fact-led investigations turn into politically motivated vendetta.

Ms Banerjee has reincarnated herself as the victim of the BJP’s malice, initiated by the “nasty, naughty” home minister, Amit Shah. The ED raid’s purpose has moved away from the TMC’s connection to criminality and corruption to a darker tale of coal smuggling money snaking its way via BJP Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Suvendu Adhikari to Amit Shah: ““They talk about coal scam money. But who does take the coal money? How is it taken? It goes through the traitors. Jagannath to Suvendu to Amit Shah, this is the chain,” she explained. The reference is to Ranaghat MP Jagannath Sarkar, whose seat is in the heart of the BJP’s carefully nurtured vote bank among the Scheduled Caste Matua community.

By taking control of the story, that is the BJP narrative of how Opposition ruling parties in states are blood-sucking regimes, that steal “people’s money” to enrich dynasties, Ms Banerjee probably used extra constitutional methods of raiding the raided. She accused the BJP of stealing stolen money in the coal smuggling racket case.

She also delivered a message that the Trinamul Congress would fight off any attempt to derail its commitment to fearful voters, the “ghuspetiyas” who came to West Bengal from across the border over the past seven decades. In her version of the ED raid, the BJP was the aggressor, abusing the power it had, by prodding “agencies”, in an act that was anti-Bengali.

The story underwent a transformation in her retelling; from a story linked to corruption, which could hurt her politically, burdened as she is by a three-term anti-incumbency in which cash-for-jobs, abuses in state-run hospitals, including the rape-murder at R.G. Kar Hospital figures prominently, it’s now another episode in the TMC versus BJP war over West Bengal.

By inserting herself into the story, Ms Banerjee was working overtime to alter the direction of public attention. That change has pushed the ED into issuing pathetic disclaimers: “No party office was searched. The search is not linked to any elections.” What then was the search about? “Regular money laundering”, as the ED claimed? If money-laundering is “regular”, then the “normal” has shifted.

The West Bengal Assembly polls are months away. The campaign, till the ED raid, was about “ghuspetiyas”, Muslim appeasement, vote banks and Rohingya infiltration. In the BJP’s telling, the election will be a vote to reverse the tide of illegal migrants who have changed the demographics in districts bordering Bangladesh, converting Hindu majorities into Muslim majorities.

The telling has all the hallmarks of the pre-Partition history of Hindu versus Muslim votes. The consequences of it are known. The districts constituting West Bengal were identified as Hindu majority, where Hindus who fled East Bengal were welcomed as victims of religious persecution.

The direction of the election campaign, as Mamata Banerjee has reset it, is about “Bengali” persecution, the BJP’s alleged manipulation of the SIR to disenfranchise eligible voters to fulfil its purpose of “Detect, Delete and Deport”. In the Mamata Banerjee version, the BJP has no understanding of who stole into West Bengal and integrated with the local population. It now finds itself in a fix; there are more Hindus endangered by the SIR process than Muslims, with little trace of undetected Rohingyas.

To many people in West Bengal, the BJP is the destabiliser; and Ms Banerjee confirmed it, positioning herself as the champion of all things Bengali, in her post-raid rally. She has reconfirmed it ensuring that Abhishek Banerjee travels across the state and delivers the message, initiating small but telling changes in her party organisation to spread the message faster, deeper and better than the BJP.

Can Narendra Modi’s visit, due in mid-January, control the damage she has done? To reverse the build-up of negative sentiment, Mr Modi will need to stir up a wave. The question is how can he do it, when the BJP is stuck in the doldrums.

Shikha Mukerjee is a senior journalist