TMC alleged EVM tampering | Screen grab from video shared by @AITCofficial
NEW DELHI: TMC launched a sharp allegation at the BJP and the Election Commission in West Bengal for tampering with the EVMs. Sharing a CCTV video of the EVM strong room, the party accused the BJP workers of trying to manipulate the votes in the absence of any relevant authority. EC responding to the allegations issued an official statement updating about the security measures taken for a fair election counting.TMC also shared about its leaders Shashi Panja and Kunal Ghosh protesting at Netaji Indoor Stadium, where the EVM strong room has been set up while the Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee is also set to arrive.
Sharing the video on X, they wrote, “Alarming! This is the murder of democracy in broad daylight. CCTV footage has exposed how BJP, in active collusion with the EC, is opening ballot boxes without the presence of any relevant party stakeholders. This is gross electoral fraud being committed openly with the full knowledge and protection of the Election Commission.” It further alleged, “They have tried every dirty trick, name deletion, voter intimidation, Central Force terror, cash flooding, and failed miserably. Now, in sheer desperation, they have stooped to tampering with EVMs. But Bengal is not Maharashtra, Delhi, or Bihar. We will not sit silently and watch them loot our democracy.”The official handle of the Trinamool Congress further updated upon the protest by the party leaders, saying, “Our leaders Smt. Shashi Panja and Shri Kunal Ghosh have already begun a dharna outside Netaji Indoor Stadium. Smt. Mamata Banerjee will personally visit the spot and take stock of the situation. The people of Bengal are watching this daylight robbery. We will not allow the Delhi Zamindars and their puppet Election Commission to steal the mandate of the people.”The Election Commission took account of the situation and released a detailed statement. It said, “With reference to video being circulated on social media handles, there are 7 AC strong rooms inside the Kgudiram Anushilan Kendra. They all have been duly closed and sealed in the presence of Candidates/Election agents and General Observer after completion of poll yesterday. Last Strong room was closed in the morning around 5.15am.” It further updated on the precautions taken as it said, “All strong rooms containing polled EVMs are safely secured and sealed. There is another strong room in the same premise for Postal ballot wherein we have kept AC wise polled ballots as done by different polling personnel and ETBPS. We had notified all Observers, ROs and requested ROs to inform their candidates and agents about this. ROs informed the political parties by mail.”It further added, “The segregation of the ballot was taking place in the corridor of strong rooms containing polled premise from 4pm. The main strong rooms are safely secured and locked. The same was duly shown to Shashi Panja, Kunal Ghosh and Kali from BJP.”The protest also follows the Bengal CM’s rejection of the exit poll projections which showed BJP leading the trends.
