High drama ensued in Kolkata on Thursday, a day after polling in the Bengal Assembly elections ended, after the Trinamool Congress claimed that the BJP and the Election Commission were trying to open postal ballot boxes in the absence of party representatives.
Soon after, TMC leaders Shashi Panja and Kunal Ghosh reached the site in Kolkata and staged a sit-in protest outside the strong room where ballot papers were stored. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is also expected to join the protest.
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The allegations came even as a majority of polls predicted the BJP would win the Assembly elections, barring a few giving a fourth term to Mamata.
Here are the details of what happened Thursday evening:
Charge of “tampering with votes” TMC: The TMC leaders alleged that the BJP, in the presence of EC officials, made attempts to open polls in the absence of representatives of the party concerned. TMC leaders Shashi Banga and Kunal Ghosh sat on a dharna in front of the strong room, outside the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata.
“BJP sends people into the bunker”: TMC leader Kunal Ghosh alleged that some people were tampering with postal ballots inside the strong room, adding that there was no TMC representative there. “BJP theft has been caught,” he further said. “You can see the live feed and CCTV of the Election Commission, where a few people are working inside. None of our representatives are inside… They are not letting us in. There is no transparency. They (BJP) are sending their people to the strong room and tampering with the postal ballots,” Ghosh told reporters outside the room.
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TMC shares video to support the claim: The TMC shared CCTV footage of what it claimed was from inside the strong room in the Bengal capital. In a social media post, the TMC claimed that the footage revealed how the BJP in collusion with the Election Commission opened the polls without the presence of any concerned stakeholders. He added: “This is gross electoral fraud being committed openly with the full knowledge and protection of the Election Commission.”
Mamata’s “guard EVM” call: The drama comes just hours after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rejected the exit poll results and urged TMC workers to guard electronic voting machines. “They are planning to swap the electronic voting machines…. Till the time I will hold a press conference and announce, don’t leave the counting tables… They may change the data in the computers, give us our numbers to the BJP and BJP, and I myself will go to the counting hall, and I can do it as a candidate. You have gone through a lot. Please bear more to save Bengal,” Mamata said in a video on Channel X.
Tightening security measures outside the fortified room: In view of the TMC’s protest and the law and order situation, security forces were deployed in Kolkata. A video clip published by news agency ANI showed several security personnel deployed outside the strong room in Kolkata.
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The Election Commission responds: Poll officials explained that the strong rooms where the electronic voting devices are stored are securely secured and sealed. The official said that polling was being separated in the corridor of the strong rooms and the returning officers. “There is another strong room in the same premise for postal polls where we kept AC wise ballot papers as did various polling officers and ETBPS. We have informed all observers and registration offices and asked polling offices to inform their candidates and agents about this,” an EC official told ANI.
What the BJP said: The BJP denied the TMC rumours, saying Mamata’s party was preparing to defeat it. “We will send two people to look after the strong room… They (the TMC) are just spreading rumors while preparing for their defeat… There are three-layer security arrangements here,” BJP leader Tapas Roy said.
