High drama in Bengal as Trinamool stages sit-in outside EVM centre in Bengal: 'Ballot papers being moved'

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like A massive political row erupted in West Bengal on Thursday as Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders staged a sit-in protest outside central Kolkata’s Khudiram Anushilan Kendra, the counting centre for several assembly constituencies housing EVM strongrooms, alleging irregular activities inside the facility, even as chief minister Mamata Banerjee said her party will win at least 226 of the state’s 294 seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) countered it saying “her game has ended”. TMC leaders Shashi Panja and Kunal Ghosh sit on a dharna in front of the strong room, outside Netaji Indoor Stadium, in Kolkata on Thursday. (ANI Video Grab)The row erupted a day after polling for the second and final phase of the assembly polls concluded. TMC candidates Kunal Ghosh and Shashi Panja staged a sit-in protest outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra, alleging that live-streamed footage from CCTV cameras revealed the presence of outsiders inside the strongrooms who were “fiddling with ballot papers” from the machines. “Party workers and supporters were present outside the strongroom till 3.30 pm. Suddenly, an email was sent informing that the strongroom would be opened again at 4 pm. We contacted our workers, and they said they had left. We then rushed here. Now we are not being allowed to enter. BJP is being invited,” Ghosh, who is contesting from Beleghata, alleged. The Election Commission, however, dismissed the claim regarding the handling of polled materials at the centre, stating that poll officials were engaged in the task of segregating postal ballots as per due process and the strongrooms remained secure. “Ballot papers are being moved inside. Yet the CEO is saying nothing is happening. If postal ballots are being processed, where did they come from? If an email was sent, why weren’t we informed?” Ghosh added. In a late-night press briefing, West Bengal chief electoral officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal rubbished TMC’s allegations, asserting that EVMs were safe and secure in the strongrooms. “The EVMs and strongrooms are absolutely safe and secure. Three layers of security comprising state police and CAPF are guarding the strong rooms. I don’t see any basis behind this, other than a publicity stunt. Such situations are unfortunate and unwarranted,” Agarwal said. EC officials said eight strongrooms have been set up at Khudiram Anushilan Kendra. While in seven strong rooms, EVMs from the seven assembly constituencies in North Kolkata and have been kept, in the eighth one, postal ballots of poll officials were kept. Following set protocols, the strongroom with postal ballots was opened in the presence of representatives of political parties and the TMC was also invited, the officials said. “The strongroom was opened as the postal ballots had to be segregated before being sent to the respective districts. Everything was done following protocols. They were being segregated by senior government officials appointed as Assistant Returning Officers,” the CEO said. The matter came to a head after BJP’s Maniktala candidate Tapas Roy, accompanied by party candidate from Chowrangee Santosh Pathak, reached the spot and confronted senior police officers on why they allowed the TMC workers to gather and shout slogans at the sensitive venue. Banerjee also reached Sakhawat Memorial Girls School, one of the buildings the ECI used as a strongroom, around 9 pm. The developments took place hours after TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, via a video message, urged party leaders, workers and polling agents to maintain a 24-hour vigil over strongrooms housing EVMs. “You must guard the counting centres. If needed, I will also go and guard my area. Candidates must guard themselves. Stay awake. If I can do it, so can you. There is a plan to change the machines while transporting EVMs. Don’t take this lightly.” A day after several exit polls predicted a BJP win in the eastern state, the TMC chief alleged that BJP pressured a section of the media to publish fictitious exit poll data showing its landslide victory so that share prices would not crash. She claimed her party would win 226 of the state’s 294 assembly seats. “I know for sure that the exit poll numbers shown on television were circulated from a BJP office at 1.08 pm on Wednesday. A section of the media was pressured to publish it because our tally may reach 230 as well. We are surely crossing the 226-mark,” she said. BJP Bengal chief Samik Bhattacharya, however, countered Banerjee, saying that “TMC’s departure is certain”. However, Bhattacharya did not predict how many seats his party might win. “She is very well aware that she is losing the polls and that is why she is making such a statement to keep her party workers charged up,” he said. “Her game has ended. People have passed their judgement. The TMC government is gone,” he said.