Election 2026 highlights: ‘Phone found in envelope’ in Asansol sparks TMC-BJP row ahead of counting

• Tensions flared at the Asansol Engineering College in West Bengal after a switched off phone was discovered inside an envelope, along with documents related to Raniganj Assembly constituency. This led to a row between TMC and BJP, with a formal complaint being filed.

• West Bengal special electoral roll observer Subrata Gupta on Sunday assured that preparations for vote counting in the state were made. “We are fully prepared. There is no possibility of vote theft. There will be no irregularities in the counting of votes,” Gupta said, according to ANI news agency.

• DMK leader RS Bharathi on Sunday alleged that the “BJP may attempt foul play”, saying that the DMK had filed a legal complaint with the Election Commission as a precaution.

• Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Director General Gyanendra Pratap Singh and Special Director General Vitul Kumar inspected the strongroom at Netaji Indoor Stadium and the surrounding areas. Tight security was also deployed outside the strongroom at Sakhawat Memorial School in Bhowanipore.

• Two men attacked the residence of BJP organisational district secretary Kundan Singh in West Bengal's Noapara on Saturday, ANI news agency reported. Barrackpore police commissionerate DC (North) Washim Khan said the police had arrested two individuals in connection with the incident.

• Security agencies seized country-made explosives in Dharmadom, the assembly constituency of Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, reported news agency PTI.

Election 2026 LIVE: Tensions flared at the Asansol Engineering College in West Bengal after a switched off phone was discovered inside an envelope, along with documents related to Raniganj Assembly constituency.

This sparked a row between the TMC and BJP, with both parties claiming the other was complicit in the act. TMC leader Abhinav Mukherjee said a formal police complaint had been filed in the matter.

“The BJP, the Election Commission, all of them are trying to defeat the TMC...The entire public of Asansol is alert. All this will not be allowed to happen,” Mukherjee said, according to ANI news agency.

Meanwhile, the BJP said their workers were the ones who had caught the device. “Someone was trying to enter here with a mobile phone. Our men caught him. Mobile phones are forbidden. I don't know what the police are doing. A mobile phone was being taken inside, so we stopped it, and that's why we're standing here,” a BJP leader at the site said.

Election 2026 LIVE: DMK spokesperson TKS Elangovan expressed confidence that the party would secure the mandate of the voters, with the vote counting for Tamil Nadu Assembly elections set to be conducted Monday.

“Tomorrow is the day Stalin will be re-elected to rule the state. He will become Chief Minister, and the DMK will win a majority of seats and form the government for the next five years,” ANI news agency cited Elangovan as saying.

Election 2026 LIVE: Ahead of the counting of votes for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections on May 4, security personnel have been deployed in Chennai to ensure public safety and maintain law and order, ANI news agency reported.

Prominent counting centres, including Loyola College, Queen Mary's College, and Anna University, are being constantly monitored, with heavy police presence.

Election 2026 LIVE: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday expressed confidence of a UDF win in Kerala, while saying that the exit polls had shown a “unanimous conclusion.”

“Exit polls in our country have lots of problems. I don't want to particularly rely on them, but they have all agreed with each other, which is amazing. Unanimous conclusion,” he told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram, according to ANI news agency.

“So I think we're here to see what comes in tomorrow morning, but I'm expecting by mid-morning it will be a very clear and convincing narrative in our favour,” he said.

Election 2026 LIVE: West Bengal special electoral roll observer Subrata Gupta on Sunday assured that preparations for vote counting in the state were made.

“We are fully prepared. There is no possibility of vote theft. There will be no irregularities in the counting of votes. Security arrangements are complete,” Gupta said, according to ANI news agency.

Election 2026 LIVE: A commotion erupted outside the Asansol Engineering College strongroom premises after a switched-off mobile phone was allegedly found in an envelope, along with some documents related to the Raniganj Assembly constituency, ANI news agency reported.

“Someone was trying to enter here with a mobile phone. Our men caught him. Mobile phones are forbidden. I don't know what the police are doing. A mobile phone was being taken inside, so we stopped it, and that's why we're standing here,” a BJP leader said, adding that the party wouldn't “allow any unethical act.”

Election 2026 LIVE: West Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya urged party workers and supporters to maintain peace during and after the results on May 4.

“ur appeal is that there should be no violence of any kind. Winning does not mean that just because someone broke your house or killed your worker last time, this time you do the same to them. That should not happen... There should be a change in our mindset as well, and such incidents should not occur,” ANI news agency cited Bhattacharya as saying.

Election 2026 LIVE: The Election Commission on Sunday said that all preparations were completed in Coochbehar's Mekhliganj constituency ahead of vote counting in West Bengal.

“All Set for Counting Day. Counting arrangements are all set at Mekhliganj Higher Secondary School, the designated counting centre for 1-Mekhliganj AC under Coochbehar district,” the EC said in a post on X.

Election 2026 LIVE: DMK leader RS Bharathi on Sunday alleged that the “BJP may attempt foul play”, saying that the DMK had filed a legal complaint with the Election Commission as a precaution.

“At the last moment, with the help of the Election Commission, the BJP may attempt foul play, so we must not fall prey to it. As a precaution, the DMK legal wing has lodged a complaint with the Election Commission.,” he told reporters, according to ANI news agency.

He further expressed confidence that MK Stalin will become the chief minister again in Tamil Nadu.

Election 2026 LIVE: With the results for the Assembly elections in Assam set to be announced on Monday (May 4), authorities have established a rigorous three-layer security cordon at Lakhimpur Government Higher Secondary School, ANI news agency reported.

Lakhimpur deputy commissioner Aditya Vikram Yadav told ANI that the administrative machinery is prepared for the counting day.

Election 2026 LIVE: Union minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday predicted victory for the BJP and the NDA, claiming West Bengal was “yearning for change.”

“In the elections, there is going to be an unprecedented victory for the BJP and NDA under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi. West Bengal is yearning for change and will certainly this time uproot and throw out the anarchic government of Mamata Banerjee, which has done no development,” ANI news agency cited Goyal as saying. Goyal further said, “We will win again in Assam, Puducherry, and an AIADMK-BJP government will be formed in Tamil Nadu.”

Election 2026 LIVE: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday alleged “strategic deployment” of polling officials in West Bengal, claiming a “rehearsal” of this had taken place in Uttar Pradesh.

“However, during the by-elections held across Uttar Pradesh, including in Rampur, it was observed that presiding officers, staff and officials were hand-picked and strategically deployed. Perhaps the BJP, in collusion with the Election Commission, conducted a trial run in Uttar Pradesh. You could also call it a 'rehearsal'. They did this in Uttar Pradesh, and then they replicated it in Bengal,” PTI news agency cited Yadav as saying.

However, he maintained that TMC chief Mamata Banerjee will retain her chief ministerial post. “Didi (Mamata Banerjee) was there, and Didi will stay; Didi will win,” Yadav said.

Election 2026 LIVE: Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Director General Gyanendra Pratap Singh and Special Director General Vitul Kumar inspected the strongroom at Netaji Indoor Stadium and the surrounding areas ahead of vote counting in West Bengal on Monday.

This comes after allegations from the TMC that the BJP, in “active collusion” with the Election Commission, was attempting to open ballot boxes without the presence of relevant party stakeholders, ANI news agency reported.

Election 2026 LIVE: With the results for Assembly elections set to be announced on Monday (May 4), political parties across the state have begun preparations for celebrations.

In Pandikkad in Malappuram district, Congress and UDF workers are preparing biryani for around 5,000 people in anticipation of a victory, PTI news agency reported.

Meanwhile, the BJP is also preparing for celebrations in Kochi, with large quantities of laddoos ordered. Apart from food, cultural programmes are also being organised as part of the celebrations.

Election 2026 LIVE: Ahead of the vote counting in West Bengal on Monday, tight security has been deployed outside the strongroom at Sakhawat Memorial School in Bhowanipore, PTI news agency reported.

Meanwhile DG CRPF Gyanendra Pratap Singh reviewed security arrangements on Sunday at the Netaji Indoor Stadium strongroom in Kolkata.

Election 2026 LIVE: LDF convenor T P Ramakrishnan on Sunday said a “false narrative” was being spread that the Left front was headed for defeat in the Assembly elections.

“The LDF will secure a decisive victory. The claims made by the Congress and UDF will end on Monday when the results are announced. We are confident that the CPI(M)-led LDF will retain power,” Ramakrishnan said, according to PTI news agency.

Election 2026 LIVE: Two men attacked the residence of BJP organisational district secretary Kundan Singh in West Bengal's Noapara on Saturday, ANI news agency reported. The incident, which was caught on CCTV, comes before vote counting in the state.

“At night, two men, Akash Choudhary and Aman, arrived outside my house, took out their arms, and started firing. They had been spreading terror in the area for many days. The intent was to scare the BJP since Trinamool has been defeated at the polls, but nobody will be scared. We will win the elections,” ANI cited Singh as saying.

Barrackpore police commissionerate DC (North) Washim Khan said the police had arrested two individuals in connection with the incident.

Election 2026 LIVE: The TMC on Sunday challenges the BJP to use its full machinery to win the Falta assembly seat.

“Falta. Diamond Harbour. May 21. Spare no expense. Bring everything you've got. Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath, if you have the spine for it, come yourselves. Deploy 50,000 Central Force personnel. Line every polling booth with armoured vehicles. Fly in every 'Singham' you have at your disposal,” TMC said in a post on X.

Fresh voting will be held in Falta on May 21 after the Election Commission countermanded the polls in the constituency citing “severe electoral offences.”

Election 2026 LIVE: BJP candidate for the Egra Assembly constituency Dibyendu Adhikari expressed confidence in the formation of a new government in West Bengal.

“I prayed for the entire West Bengal... A new government will be formed under the leadership of PM Modi... Our party State President said that the future Chief Minister will have his office in the Writer's Building, maintaining its traditional red colour, to honour Calcutta as India's former capital,” Adhikari said, according to ANI news agency.

Election 2026 LIVE: The Sivasagar district administration in Assam has completed necessary preparations for vote counting on May 4 across three key Legislative Assembly constituencies – Demow, Sivasagar and Nazira.

391 officials have been deployed to oversee the proceedings on Monday, ANI news agency reported.

Election 2026 LIVE: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan changed his social media bio on Sunday, a day before the counting of votes for the Assembly elections.

The changed bio now reads, “Polit Bureau Member, Communist Party of India (Marxist).”

Election 2026 LIVE: AICC general secretary and Kerala in-charge Deepa Dasmunshi on Sunday said UDF allies had left the decision on the chief ministerial candidate to Congress if the Front is elected to power in Kerala, PTI news agency reported.

“We have consulted the allied partners. They have given a clear opinion that whatever the Congress decides, they will go with that,” she said.

Election 2026 LIVE: Congress leader Pawan Khera on Sunday expressed confidence that a decisive mandate will come “against oppressive governments”, hours before the counting of votes for Assembly elections.

“We are absolutely confident that a decisive mandate is coming against the oppressive governments they are running... They forget what Advani ji said about the Election Commission in 2008-2009. They themselves forget what questions they raised to the Election Commission, and we answered them,” Khera told ANI news agency.

“The Election Commission answered them, we called meetings and called them, and we answered them. The Election Commission of that time and the Election Commission of today, the government of that time and the government of today, no comparison is possible,” he added.