Friday’s attack on Enforcement Directorate officials during a raid on the home of Trinamul leader Shahjahan Sheikh in Sandeshkhali has had Bengal’s ruling party in a quandary, forced to put up a brave face in public but acknowledging the political costs in private.

Trinamul has fielded most of its prominent faces to defend its government against the Opposition’s attacks on the state of law and order and to mount an offensive accusing the BJP of vindictive politics.

But some party leaders are conceding in private — and a few openly — that the Sandeshkhali violence has pushed the party on the back foot ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Birbhum Trinamul MP Satabdi Roy said the violence had “damaged” the party’s image and handed a stick to the BJP to beat the state government with, although she said Bengal’s ruling party had nothing to do with the mayhem.

“Yes, it is certainly damaging for the party as the Opposition has got an opportunity to speak (against Trinamul), and the journalists to ask questions,” Roy said on the sidelines of a party event in Rampurhat, Birbhum.

“Any kind of attack is unacceptable, and the party is certainly not backing any such act…. It (the attack) was an act of foolishness.”

A mob had attacked the ED team that had raided the house in connection with a probe into PDS irregularities, vandalised its cars, chased away the accompanying CRPF jawans and beat up journalists.

Roy said that action should be taken against those involved.

“The act was individual and the party is not responsible. Such an incident doesn’t (correctly) depict the law-and-order situation in Bengal,” Roy said.

A Trinamul MP who didn’t wish to be quoted explained why the incident was a setback for the party, already buffeted by corruption charges.

“So far, it’s only been corruption cases that are still to be proved in court, but the BJP will now corner us with the new accusation of preventing the central agency from doing its job. The attack on the ED officials has helped the saffron ecosystem politically,” the MP said.

A Trinamul source said the party’s preparedness for the Lok Sabha polls had already been delayed by the differences between the old guard and the younger crop of leaders over questions of how to run the party and the role of second-in-command Abhishek Banerjee.

“The differences will come to an end very soon and this is the time to throw ourselves into the election preparations,” a party leader said.

“But the incident has taken place at a time when every single day is crucial for the party. When the party has to concentrate on poll preparedness, all the prominent leaders are compelled to engage with this particular incident.”

Abhishek will be at a public meeting at Pailan in Diamond Harbour, his parliamentary constituency, to hand over old-age pensions on Sunday. Party insiders said chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s heir apparent is likely to clear the air about the party’s stand on the issue.

Neither Mamata nor Abhishek has so far spoken on Friday’s incident.

In the immediate aftermath of the violence, Trinamul leaders had risen to defend the party and government against the onslaught from a combined Opposition, hitting back at the BJP in particular by accusing it of misusing central agencies to target the Opposition.

As the verbal battles continued on Saturday, Trinamul cited instances of central agency sleuths being attacked elsewhere to defend itself.

“Attacks on any investigation agency or central agency are not expected. But we witnessed such incidents happening earlier in other places too,” Trinamul state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said.

“A CBI team was attacked in Uttar Pradesh in 2019 when it went to probe the Rs 126-crore Yamuna Expressway scam. Were the police of the BJP-ruled state sleeping then?”

Ghosh gave two more examples of attacks on central agency sleuths in other states.

Trinamul also mentioned an alleged attack on the Bengal police’s CID when its sleuths went to Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh to arrest a BJP youth leader accused of putting a cash prize on chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s head.

“When @WBPolice and @CIDWestBengal went to arrest, former Mandal President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), had announced a reward of Rs 11 lakh for beheading #WestBengal Chief Minister @MamataOfficial di in 2017 they were assaulted by #BJP goons from #UttarPradesh,” state Trinamul spokesperson Tanmoy Ghosh wrote on his X handle.

“Did anyone question Yogi Adityanath? Did the governor give any threatening bytes to the media on imposing President’s rule? Did anyone question the law and order of Uttar Pradesh?”

A senior Bengal BJP leader said: “All the (Trinamul’s) efforts (at self-defence) prove that the incident has put the party in an uncomfortable situation. We will not let the issue go easily, as it proves that Trinamul tried to prevent the ongoing probe into corruption.

“It is not only Sandeshkhali, but an ED team was attacked by a mob in Bongaon in the same district after the ED arrested a former Trinamul civic body chairman on Friday.”

Senior BJP leaders such as Union rural development minister Giriraj Singh have used Friday’s incident to ask whether Bengal is a functional democracy.

On Saturday, the BJP activated its rank and file who hit the streets across the state with protest marches against the attack on the ED.

A group of BJP politicians under the leadership of the state president of party youth wing BJYM, Indranil Khan, protested outside the BJP’s state headquarters: 6 Murlidhar Sen Lane.

BJP workers in Howrah blocked the Howrah Bridge for over half an hour. Multiple protests were reported from Hooghly, Birbhum, East Burdwan, Purlia and Bankura.

Trinamul leaders said they could not distance themselves from the violence as Shahjahan was a known and important party leader in Sandeshkhali, who controlled the organisation in at least two Assembly segments.