TMC leaders detained for holding dharna outside ECI office, seek removal of NIA, CBI, ED and I-T chiefs

The Delhi Police on Monday detained leaders of the Trinamool Congress who sat on a dharna outside the office of the Election Commission of India seeking action against the “misuse of central agencies” against the Opposition ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The leaders met a full bench of the poll panel to press for the removal of the chiefs of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED), National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Income Tax department.

Led by Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien, the delegation of 10 Trinamool leaders included party MPs Dola Sen, Sagarika Ghosh, Saket Gokhale and Shantanu Sen. The MPs arrived at the office of the ECI promising to hold a 24-hour sit-in over their demand for a “level playing field” during elections.

After the leaders declined to heed repeated requests by the Delhi Police personnel, they were bodily removed and loaded into a bus waiting nearby. Speaking to the media, the leaders alleged that Opposition leaders are being targeted by central agencies with motives that are “purely political”.

“We had met the Election Commission officials on April 1. A level playing field is basic in electoral democracy,” said the party’s newest entrant Sagarika Ghosh. “The manner in which officials of the CBI, NIA, ED and Income Tax are acting, they appear to be branch members of BJP. It is making the life of the Opposition difficult. A member of BJP had a meeting with an NIA official at the latter’s residence,” she claimed.

Trinamool MP Doal Sen claimed that the NIA made an arrest in 2024 in a case related to 2022. “Law and order is a state subject and the local police should have been informed… Strictly the chiefs of the four central agencies should be changed,” she said.

The TMC has been alleging that the central probe agencies have been targeting opposition parties at the behest of the BJP-led Centre. 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.