File photo
KOLKATA: Ahead of the May 4 counting of votes for the assembly elections, key rivals Trinamool and BJP in Bengal sparred and flagged incidents of ‘lax security and blacked-out CCTV footage’ at EVM strongrooms on Saturday.Tension flared at Barasat Govt College in North 24 Parganas district on Saturday after the CCTV monitoring display reportedly went dark for 17 minutes. Suspecting deliberate tampering, TMC workers and candidates staged a protest. EC officials rushed to the spot, after which the display started functioning.According to the complaint, CCTV monitors at the strongroom, where EVMs from the Barasat, Habra, Ashoknagar, and Deganga constituencies are stored, went completely blank between 8:05 am and 8:22 am. Trinamool demanded that the full footage of the period be made available and that strict action be taken against whoever turned off the monitor.TMC Ashoknagar candidate Narayan Goswami said: “The ARO showed me footage sent to the magistrate where the cameras were operational. But if someone switched off the TV, EC should have taken immediate action. We need to know what happened.”Additional returning officer Abhijit Das said: “We received information that the feed was not visible. By 8:20am, the SDO had arrived. It was found that the external monitor had been powered off. Once switched on, the feed resumed… It appears the switch was turned off from the outside. An investigation is underway.”Meanwhile, BJP flagged two such incidents: one in Salt Lake and another in Burdwan.BJP’s Bidhannagar candidate Sharadwat Mukherjee said the strongroom at Bidhannagar was supposed to be opened on Saturday. He alleged it was actually opened multiple times on Friday without official notification. He contacted the returning officer.CPM candidate Soumyajit Raha said a complaint had also been lodged with EC.BJP’s Amit Malviya alleged on X: “At UIT, an attempt was made by a TMC goon to scale the compound walls and gain access to a strongroom housing EVMs. The incident was flagged by BJP candidate Sanjay Das, raising serious concerns about the intent behind such actions. This is no ordinary facility; it contains EVMs from five crucial constituencies — Bardhaman Uttar, Bardhaman Dakshin, Galsi, Ausgram, and Bhatar.”In Kolkata, Trinamool’s Shyampukur candidate Shashi Panja visited the strongroom at Netaji Indoor Stadium on Saturday, where, she said, the guards initially stopped her, saying those already inside must exit first. She said she was only allowed to enter after clarification from the police. She also flagged the lack of CCTVs in the strongroom, claiming officials told her that cameras would be installed “shortly”.“When the postal ballot trunks of seven constituencies arrived, there was no representative of any political party here,” she said.
