High drama erupted in Kolkata in West Bengal after the Trinamool Congress (TMC) made a major rigging allegation alleging that polls were opened in the powerful polling booth, with the party also saying Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would personally come to take stock of the situation. The Election Commission later issued a clarification denying the allegations.
The dispute began with Kunal Ghosh, TMC candidate from Belighata Assembly constituency, and party leader Shashi Banga, who sat at a dharna (sit-in) in Kolkata, alleging that the Election Commission and the BJP opened polls in the strong chambers without the presence of concerned stakeholders.
The TMC duo sat on a dharna outside the Netaji Indoor Stadium in the state capital, soon after a large team of Kolkata Police arrived at the scene wearing riot gear.
“Party workers and supporters were present outside the barricaded room till 3.30 pm. Suddenly, an email was sent informing us that the barricaded room will be opened again at 4 pm. We called our workers and they said they left. Then we rushed here. Now we are not allowed to enter,” Ghosh told reporters. The Bharatiya Janata Party is invited.”
“Ballots are being transported in. However, the CEO says nothing has happened. If mail-in ballots were being processed, where did they come from? And if an email was sent, why were we not informed?” he asked.
The TMC later said in a statement that party chief Mamata Banerjee would personally visit the site to “assess the situation”.
Clarification by the European Commission
The Election Commission of India (ECI) rejected the allegations of tampering and said that the segregation of ballot papers occurred after all political parties were notified through mail.
Referring to the CCTV footage circulated on social media, ECI issued a nine-point response, according to news agency ANI, as follows:
1. There are 7 air-conditioned rooms inside Kgudiram Anushilan Kendra.
2. They have all been duly closed and sealed in the presence of the candidates/election agents and the Comptroller General after the polling was completed yesterday. The last strong room was closed in the morning at around 5.15am.
3. All strong rooms containing polled EVMs are securely secured and sealed.
4. There is another strong room in the same building for postal balloting where we kept the AC wise ballot papers as did the various polling officers and the ETBPS.
5. We have notified all invigilators and reception offices and requested the registration offices to inform their candidates and agents of this matter.
6. Regional offices informed political parties by mail.
7. The segregation of ballots was taking place in the corridor of the strong rooms containing the polling station from 4 p.m.
8. The main strong rooms are safely secured and locked.
9. The same was duly shown by BJP’s Shashi Banga, Kunal Ghosh and Kale.
Mamata’s ‘EVM keeper’ call
This comes after Banerjee called on party workers to stay awake all night to guard the EVM strong rooms.
“The BJP has played the end game. The stock markets would have crashed if the real numbers were published. People need to stick together, monitor the count closely… and stay awake all night,” she said, adding that she would guard the EVM rooms herself if necessary.
“They are planning to swap the electronic voting machines… Until I hold a press conference and announce, don’t leave the counting tables… They may change the data in the computers, give us our numbers for the BJP and BJP, and I will go myself to the counting hall, and I can do it as a candidate. You have gone through a lot. Please bear more to save Bengal,” she said.
What the exit polls predicted in West Bengal
According to Matrez, TMC+ may fall short of the majority mark by a few seats, winning between 125 and 140 constituencies. He gave the BJP an edge, predicting that it may win 146-161 seats, indicating a close contest between the two major parties.
A similar forecast was made by pollster P-Marq, which said the BJP is expected to lead in 150-175 seats, while the incumbent Trinamool Congress may win 118-138 seats. He also expected that other parties would be able to obtain between two and six seats.
Exit polls Diary has predicted a clear win for the BJP, indicating that the party may win 142-171 seats, while the TMC may fall well short of the majority mark with just 99-127 seats.
Today, Chanakya also predicted a major sweep for the BJP, with more than 192 seats. The current TMC and its coalition are said to have about 100 seats.
However, pollster People’s Pulse has given a different forecast, suggesting that the current TMC government may retain power in the state, though its tally may fall to 177-187 seats from the current 215 seats in the assembly. It expected the BJP to get 95-110 seats.
