Amid protests by TMC leaders over alleged rigging in the West Bengal Assembly elections, state Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal clarified that “CCTV cameras in the strong rooms have not been turned off”. He also added that live footage of the rooms has been made available to all parties.
He said live footage from all eight powerful rooms, including seven residential electronic machines and one for postal ballots, was broadcast continuously, and representatives of political parties were allowed to monitor them from outside the three layers of security.
The European Commission says everything is done according to the rules
Responding to concerns over the activity that took place around 4pm, Agarwal explained that the officials opened the strong postal ballot room as per rules, with advance notice given to all candidates and parties by the returning official. “Under the rule, all political parties have been informed and all candidates have been informed by the RO (electoral officer),” he said.
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“They should have come there… After 4 pm, three candidates came and saw everything that the strong rooms for electronic voting machines were closed while the strong room for postal ballots was open. Then the three left,” the election official said.
He also stressed that “there will not be a state of law and order,” adding that “these things happen.” The officer also noted that the counting of votes will be done in a “100% neat and clean” manner.
In a press conference late on Thursday, the West Bengal chief executive said ECI was “fully prepared for the counting of votes and all procedures will be followed strictly”.
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TMC alleges manipulation by EC officials
The statement comes after TMC leaders claimed 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 also sat on a dharna in front of the strong room, outside the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata.
Moreover, to support their claims, TMC also shared CCTV footage of what it claimed was from inside the powerful 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 relevant stakeholders.
