The battle for West Bengal has spilt into the night after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee spent nearly four hours at an EVM strongroom in Kolkata on Thursday, leaving at 12:07 am, amid allegations of tampering from both sides of the political divide. By Friday morning, her opponent in Bhabanipur, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, had posted an image of her inside the facility and declared she was being “kept under surveillance.”
Adhikari, a former aide of Banerjee who is now contesting against her in Bhabanipur, said EVMs and strongrooms in the constituency were being strictly monitored. Sharing the image on social media, he wrote, “I wish to assure the esteemed community of voters from the entire state of West Bengal, including the Bhabanipur constituency, that the Trinamool candidate from this centre, namely the outgoing chief minister, has been strictly instructed to refrain from availing any undue advantages.”
He added, “No matter how much effort she makes, she has been unable to engage in any activities outside the rules.”
Why Banerjee Went To Strongroom
Banerjee said she visited the strongroom after reviewing CCTV footage and receiving reports of irregularities from several parts of the state. Earlier in the evening, Trinamool leaders Kunal Ghosh and Shashi Panja had staged protests outside Khudiram Anushilan Kendra in Kolkata, alleging that CCTV footage showed outsiders inside the premises “fiddling with ballot papers.”
Banerjee issued a firm warning ahead of the counting day on May 4. “If there is any plan to tamper with the counting process, it will not be tolerated,” she said.
BJP Hits Back
BJP leader Tapas Roy dismissed the Trinamool’s allegations as deliberate rumour-mongering. “We will deploy two persons to look after the strongroom. They are just spreading rumours as they are preparing the ground for their defeat. Three-layer security arrangements are here,” he told ANI. The party accused the TMC of laying the groundwork to contest an unfavourable result before counting had even begun.
Election Commission Responds
Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal stepped in to dismiss the concerns from both camps, saying there was no basis for suspicion and that the strongrooms were operating under three-tier security comprising state police and Central Armed Police Forces. Police have been deployed outside strongrooms in Kolkata following the overnight protests.
With counting scheduled for May 4, the atmosphere in Bengal is tense, and the battle for the strongrooms appears to be as fiercely contested as the election itself.
