Mamata Banerjee Fires Back at BJP Over ED Raids on I-PAC, Says She's 'Reborn' in Politics

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West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee escalated her confrontation with the BJP on Friday, accusing the central probe agencies of being 'captured' and used for political purposes. Speaking at a rally in Kolkata, Banerjee said that if someone tries to 'hit' her politically, she gets 'reborn'. The comments came after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the I-PAC office in Salt Lake and the London home of its co-founder, Pratik Jain, in connection with a 2020 coal scam case. Banerjee had stormed into Jain's home while the raid was still ongoing, an action the ED termed as 'obstruction'. Defending her action, Banerjee said that she had done nothing illegal and that many things had been taken away by the time she arrived. She accused the BJP of using central agencies to target her and the Trinamool Congress (TMC). Banerjee also alleged that several BJP leaders, including Suvendu Adhikari, were involved in coal scams and had sent money to union home minister Amit Shah. She claimed to have proof on pen drives, which she would release at the right time. The TMC supremo also hit out at the BJP for 'forcibly capturing' Maharashtra, Haryana, and Bihar, and accused them of trying to capture West Bengal. She said that all central probe agencies had been 'captured' and that she would not be intimidated. The ED action against I-PAC is linked to an alleged coal scam. The political consultancy has been working with the TMC since June 2019 and handles the party's social media and election strategies. I-PAC issued a statement on Friday, expressing 'serious concerns' over the raids and calling it an 'unsettling precedent'. The consultancy group said that it had cooperated fully with the ED and engaged with the process in accordance with the law. The TMC has planned protests in Kolkata and Delhi against the ED action, with several MPs, including Derek O'Brien and Mahua Moitra, staging a protest outside the office of union home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi. The Delhi police detained several party leaders, including eight MPs, after forcibly removing them from the site.