Leaders of the ruling Trinamool Congress  staged a sit-in protest outside an Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) strongroom in Kolkata, alleging that ballot units were being opened in the absence of authorised party representatives.

The protest was held outside a strongroom at Netaji Indoor Stadium in central Kolkata, where EVMs from several Assembly constituencies in north Kolkata are kept, NDTV reported.

At the centre of the demonstration were Bengal minister Shashi Panja and Trinamool spokesperson Kunal Ghosh, both contesting the Assembly elections. Polling in their respective constituencies was conducted on Wednesday

In an official statement released at the start of the protest, the Trinamool said that Shashi Panja and Kunal Ghosh had already begun a dharna outside Netaji Indoor Stadium.

Meanwhile, the Bhartiya Janata Party has criticised the TMC, rejecting its allegations of tampering with postal ballot boxes.

While dismissing the allegations outright, senior BJP leader Tapas Roy said, “We will deploy two persons to look after the strong room. They (TMC) are just spreading rumours as they are preparing ground for their defeat. Three-layer security arrangements are here.”

The Election Commission said that all seven Assembly constituency strongrooms at Khudiram Anushilan Kendra have been safely secured, sealed and are under proper protection.

“The last strongroom was closed in the morning around 5:15 AM. ⁠All strong rooms containing polled EVMs are safely secured and sealed. There is another strongroom in the same premises for the postal ballots, wherein we have kept AC-wise polled ballots as done by different polling personnel and ETBPS,” the EC said in a statement, reported NDTV.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee also visited an EVM strong room in Bhabanipur. She alleged possible malpractice inside the strong room.  

The protest started just hours after Mamata Banerjee released a video message cautioning party workers about possible EVM tampering. In the message, she urged Trinamool workers and local leaders to keep strict vigil over strongrooms until the counting process begins.

The voting in Bengal were held in two phases. First phase was conducted on April 23, and the second phase was conducted on April 29. The results are scheduled for May 4, along with the results Assam, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry.