An IIT Bombay alumnus who once worked with Deloitte emerged as a central figure on Thursday, just months ahead of the Assembly elections.

Until Thursday morning, Pratik Jain was largely known only to those closely tracking Bengal’s political machinery. That changed after the Enforcement Directorate conducted raids at his residence and at the headquarters of I-PAC at Godrej Waterside, Sector V.

Born in Ranchi, Jain, now in his late 30s, was schooled in the city that was then part of Bihar and at the heart of the Jharkhand movement. He later moved out to study metallurgical engineering at IIT Bombay. After graduating in 2012, Jain worked with Deloitte for a little over a year before co-founding the not-for-profit Citizens for Accountable Governance (CAG), which later evolved into the Indian Political Action Committee, or I-PAC.

Now based in Calcutta, Jain is married and has a son.

From CAG to I-PAC

An I-PAC official said CAG had worked on Narendra Modi’s campaign during the 2014 general elections. “CAG and I-PAC are both political consultancies. The difference is that I-PAC is a private limited company, while CAG was a not-for-profit organisation,” the official said.

Jain largely remained out of the public eye during the years when election strategist Prashant Kishor was associated with I-PAC. Many within the organisation believe Jain functioned as the second-in-command, working quietly behind the scenes while Kishor attracted public attention.

“Pratik is modest and down to earth. He prefers staying away from the limelight, contrary to what happened today,” an I-PAC insider said.

According to I-PAC sources, Kishor was never a founder or director of the company. “He was our mentor and adviser. Since he quit after the 2021 Bengal Assembly elections, he has had no link with I-PAC,” a source said. Kishor has since moved into full-time politics and is now leader of the Jan Suraaj Party.

I-PAC and Trinamool

I-PAC’s association with the Trinamool Congress began after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. “The first election we worked on together was the 2021 Assembly polls. The second was the 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” an I-PAC employee said.

The private limited company currently has three directors and employs over 200 people across India. Besides Calcutta, it has offices in Chennai and Hyderabad.

The other two directors, like Jain, hail from premier institutions. Rishi Raj Singh is an alumnus of IIT Kanpur, while Vinesh Chandel studied at the National Law Institute University, Bhopal. “You hear about Pratik more because he works in Bengal. There are others as well,” an employee said.

I-PAC sources said Jain, Singh and Chandel all hold stakes in the company.

Role and reach

Arup Chakraborty, Trinamool spokesperson and councillor of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, described I-PAC as an organisation staffed by “bright, young and talented professionals”.

“We need such people in politics and political consultancy,” Chakraborty said, adding that he had visited I-PAC’s office several times.

Jain’s importance within Trinamool’s ecosystem was underlined on Friday by chief minister Mamata Banerjee herself. Standing outside Jain’s residence, she said that ED officials were “taking away all party documents”. She referred to Jain as the “in-charge of my party”.

She said the raid was to collect “all of our party’s hard disks, the candidate list, the party’s strategy and the party plan”.

Mamata also equated the search with a raid at a political party office. “What if I raid the BJP party office? What will be the result?” she asked waiting journalists.

Scope of work

Officially, I-PAC describes itself as an election management company that handles data analysis and campaign strategy. Besides Trinamool, it is also working with the DMK in Tamil Nadu, where Assembly elections are also due in a few months.

“If you are managing election campaigns and strategising for a political party, you have to handle a lot of data. The fear is that it may fall into the wrong hands,” an I-PAC official said.

Trinamool insiders say I-PAC’s top leadership has close access to the party’s leadership. “They conduct extensive ground surveys and speak to organisational leaders, elected representatives and even common people,” a party leader said.

According to Trinamool sources, I-PAC prepares reports on the performance of elected representatives and levels of anti-incumbency. These assessments can influence decisions on ticket distribution, party leaders said.

The party’s ongoing outreach document, Unnayaner Panchali, a report card outlining the Trinamool government’s work and being presented to voters, also bears significant I-PAC input. Many of their staff worked on it, and their insights mattered in finalising the report, a party leader said.