KOLKATA: The Trinamool Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party exchanged allegations over the security of EVM strongrooms on Friday, as a delegation from Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's party met Election Commission officials to seek answers regarding reported CCTV blackouts and instances of sealed rooms being opened without party representatives present.
TMC Raises Concerns Over CCTV Footage
The most serious accusation came from TMC's Shyampukur candidate Shashi Panja, who informed reporters after meeting EC officials that her party had 'reason to be suspicious' about individuals captured on camera entering strongrooms at central Kolkata's Khudiram Anusilan Kendra. 'In footage from camera number 17, we noticed people inside strongrooms that had been sealed in the presence of our agents. If you are opening the door, all parties need to be informed about this,' Panja stated. She noted that pink postal ballot envelopes were visible in the footage and that no political party's representative was present when the seal was broken.
Panja also questioned the EC's assertion that all parties had been emailed regarding postal ballot sorting scheduled for Thursday at 4pm. 'We would not have said anything had someone from each of the parties been there. None was present. Then why did you break the seal and open that particular room?' she asked. 'The moment we, from TMC, noticed human activity there, it became a kind of panic situation.'
Demands for Transparency
Panja, along with Mayor Firhad Hakim and councillor Ashim Bose, also requested from the EC a comprehensive report on alleged CCTV malfunctions in strongrooms across West Bengal, unabridged and unedited recordings with detailed logs of all interruption periods, and unrestricted access for authorised representatives to surveillance feeds.
The visit to the EC office followed a meeting between Mamata Banerjee and TMC's national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee at her Kalighat residence. She had camped at the Bhowanipore EVM strongroom the previous evening, triggering a protest by the BJP that culminated in an altercation with TMC members and supporters. Mamata and Abhishek convened an emergency online meeting with TMC counting agents from all 291 seats where they have fielded nominees at 4pm Saturday.
BJP's Response
Leader of the opposition in the state, Suvendu Adhikari, who is also the BJP's candidate for Bhowanipore, posted a CCTV grab of the area outside the Sakhawat Memorial School strongroom in south Kolkata on his X handle, insisting that his election agent and advocate Suryanil Das had kept Mamata 'under strict surveillance so that she could not resort to dishonest means.' Suvendu visited the strongroom on Friday evening, terming it 'routine work' that did not require cameras following him.
BJP's Dilip Ghosh was more blunt. 'TMC is now sure of its defeat. They are trying to shift focus by staying in the strongrooms. They are complaining about everything. This is a clear sign that TMC is being defeated,' he declared. Ghosh accused TMC of deploying goons to rig the polls.
