Summary of this article
TMC offers to absorb I-PAC staff amid reports of consultant pulling back from Bengal campaign.
Party denies halt in operations, calls reports misleading and politically motivated.
I-PAC email indicates 20-day pause after ED arrests director Vinesh Chandel.
Amid reports of a pause in I-PAC’s West Bengal operations, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said the party would absorb employees of the political consultancy.
“I have spoken to Abhishek Banerjee. No one will lose their jobs. We will take them,” Banerjee said at an election rally on Sunday, referring to the party’s all-India general secretary.
The statement comes even as the All India Trinamool Congress dismissed reports that the Indian Political Action Committee (I-PAC) had suspended its operations in West Bengal.
In an official statement, the party termed such reports “baseless” and said the I-PAC team in the state remains fully engaged in campaign work for the 2026 Assembly elections. It alleged that such claims were aimed at creating confusion and distracting from the political situation on the ground, adding that voters would respond on the scheduled polling dates, with results due on May 4.
However, internal communication from I-PAC indicated that operations were being paused. An email to staff said work in West Bengal would be halted with immediate effect due to ongoing legal issues. Employees were asked to take leave for around 20 days, after which the organisation would review the situation and decide on further steps.
According to ANI, the developments come amid action against I-PAC leadership. The agency reported that I-PAC Director Vinesh Chandel was arrested under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, in connection with an alleged coal pilferage case, following an Enforcement Directorate probe based on a Delhi Police FIR. He was arrested on Monday. Chandel is a founder of the firm and holds a 33 per cent stake.
ANI further reported that Derek O’Brien, a TMC MP, demanded Chandel’s immediate release and called for the withdrawal of central agencies from the state ahead of elections. “We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Vinesh Chandel,” he said. He alleged that the Enforcement Directorate’s actions close to polling amounted to political interference and described it as “electoral sabotage” ahead of the polls.
Banerjee also alleged that the Union government was using central agencies to target the party’s consultant ahead of the elections.
In January, the controversy around I-PAC had intensified following a raid at the Kolkata residence and office of its chief, Pratik Jain. The episode took a dramatic turn when Mamata Banerjee arrived at the premises during the operation and removed certain documents, claiming they were part of the Trinamool Congress’s electoral strategy and not subject to seizure. The move triggered a political storm, with opposition parties accusing her of interfering in an official process.
The matter has since acquired a legal dimension, with an I-PAC-linked case, which is tied to the events during the Jain residence raid, scheduled to be heard in the Supreme Court on April 22, just a day before the first phase of polling across 152 constituencies. The timing of the hearing has added another layer of political sensitivity to an already fraught electoral contest in the state.
