Several Trinamool Congress leaders, including MPs, were detained by the Delhi Police as they staged a protest outside the Election Commission headquarters in Delhi on Monday against the alleged misuse of the central probe agencies.
A party delegation met the full bench of the poll panel and demanded that the chiefs of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED), National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Income Tax Department be changed.
TMC leaders Derek O’Brien, Dola Sen, Saket Gokhale and Sagarika Ghose were part of the delegation which appealed to the poll body to create a level-playing field for all political parties before the upcoming Lok Sbaha elections.
The party has been alleging that the central probe agencies have been targeting opposition parties at the behest of the BJP-led Centre. “The BJP is misusing central agencies against us. The way NIA, ED and CBI are working and targeting TMC leaders is shameful. We would request the EC to ensure a level playing field for all political parties,” Sen said.
The TMC protests came days after a team of the NIA was attacked in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district, sparking a political slugfest between the BJP and the TMC. The agency team had reached the village to investigate a 2022 bomb blast case.
The TMC alleged on Sunday an “unholy alliance” between the NIA and the BJP ahead of elections, prompting the central investigating agency to deny any mala fide intention and label the entire controversy as “unfortunate”.
A team of the NIA was allegedly attacked by a mob on Saturday when it went to arrest two main suspects in a 2022 blast case in West Bengal’s Purba Medinipur district, sparking a political slugfest with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accusing the investigators of assaulting the villagers.
