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Mamata reaches Bhabanipur’s strong room after tampering claims
She came after TMC shared a video claiming the BJP is colluding with the Election Commission to open ballot boxes without the presence of relevant party
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived at the Bhabanipur strong room in Kolkata following claims by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) that ballot boxes were opened in the EVM strong room. The party also said that Banerjee would personally come to the site to “take stock of the situation.”
Banerjee arrived at the Sakhawat Memorial School in South Kolkata, the counting centre for the Bhabanipur assembly segment, which houses the strong room for EVMs of the polls, which were held on April 29.
She came after TMC shared a video claiming the BJP is colluding with the Election Commission to open ballot boxes without the presence of relevant party workers. TMC also said that Mamata will visit the spot and “take stock of the situation.”
Banerjee told reporters that she has suggested installation of a CCTV camera for the media, adding that “either the candidate or one agent can stay upstairs,” ANI quotes Banerjee as saying.
Stressing the need for transparency, she said, "It is essential to maintain transparency. People's votes must be protected. I rushed here after receiving complaints. The central forces initially did not allow me to enter."
Sounding a stern note ahead of the May 4 counting, she added, "If there is any plan to tamper with the counting process, it will not be tolerated."
The developments took place a day after the final phase of polls in West Bengal were conducted on Wednesday and hours after TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee, via a video message, urged party leaders, workers and polling agents to maintain a 24-hour vigil over strongrooms housing EVMs, stating she suspected BJP plans to tamper with the machines before counting began on May 4.
In a strongly worded statement, the party claimed that CCTV footage showed ballot boxes being opened without the presence of authorised representatives of political parties, terming it "gross electoral fraud".
Also read: Tampering claims, chaos: Blow-by-blow of TMC vs BJP late-night EVM showdown in Kolkata
Meanwhile, two TMC leaders, Kunal Ghosh and Shashi Panja, staged a sit-in protest outside Khudiram Anushilan Kendra premises, alleging malpractice.
Meanwhile, ECI in a press briefing dismissed the claims by TMC, and said that no CCTV cameras were switched off at the strong rooms. Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal also clarified that the live footage of the rooms was made available to all parties.
(With inputs from ANI)
