Hooghly (West Bengal) [India], May 2 : Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Tanmay Ghosh on Friday questioned the transparency of the electoral process in West Bengal following the announcement of repolling in parts of South 24 Parganas.
Ghosh claimed that election officials processed and separated ballots during the night without keeping the ruling party in the loop
TMC leader Tanmay Ghosh, while talking to the reporters, said, "The CM's statement is the statement of all the people of Bengal, while the statement of the CEO is the statement of BJP. The election officials have already accepted that there were some issues and they segregated ballots without informing AITC. Why was this done at night when no one was watching... There was a distorting tendency by the Election Commission, which is condemnable and the people of Bengal will fight it till 4th May."
On the statement of Suvendu Adhikari and Sukanta Majumdar, he further added, "We are seeing everywhere that people have voted against SIR mandate and BJP, because they know they are working against the people of Bengal and creating war on the soil of Bengal in the name of elections. In 2021, they created a cabinet list, but after the election result, they didn't find anyone, and the same script will be repeated on 4th May."
Speaking to ANI, Siliguri Mayor and TMC candidate from Siliguri Assembly Constituency Gautam Deb said, "At the moment, it is alright as our party workers are monitoring the strong room 24 hours. There was an issue with the outside CCTV camera, which was not working for a few minutes. However, I spoke to the District DRO to look into the matter and take strict action. I just saw the elaborate security arrangement of the area, and our workers are there to keep strict watch."
On Friday, the Supreme Court constituted a special bench to hear the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) plea tomorrow against the Calcutta High Court's rejection of its plea that challenged the deployment of only Central government and PSU (Public Sector Undertaking) employees as supervisors for vote counting in the West Bengal assembly elections.
Meanwhile, following the Election Commission of India's announcement of repolling in 15 polling stations across two constituencies, a delegation of the Trinamool Congress (TMC), including leaders Firhad Hakim, Asim Bose and Shashi Panja, on Friday arrived at the office of the State Election Commission in Kolkata.
Reacting to the re-polling, West Bengal LoP Suvendu Adhikari said that he welcomed the decision and respects the EC.
Talking to reporters, Adhikari said, "Whatever happened at Magrahat West is welcomed. The re-polling should have happened in more booths in Diamond Harbour and in the whole of the Falta segment... There is a system and procedure which is being followed... We respect the Election Commission..."
Earlier today, the ECI on Friday said that repolling will be held in 15 polling stations in West Bengal, where voting was held on April 29 in the second phase of the Assembly elections.
The repolling will be held on 11 booths of Magrahat Paschim Assembly constituency and 4 booths of Diamond Harbour Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas on May 2, the EC said.
In a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal, the EC said the repolling has been ordered based on inputs received from the state poll machinery, and voting will be held from 7 am to 6 pm.
The repolling comes after BJP's co-incharge of West Bengal, Amit Malviya, alleged that voters were prevented from choosing the party candidate at several polling booths in Falta under the Diamond Harbour constituency during phase two of the Assembly elections in the State.
On the day of polling, West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal said that the polling booths with taping of any EVM button will undergo repolling, after the BJP alleged irregularities in Falta under the Diamond Harbour constituency.
"If reports of taping of any button come in, that should be verified and noted. If true, those booths will go for a repoll," West Bengal CEO said.
The final phase of polling for the high-octane West Bengal assembly elections concluded at 6 PM on April 29, with voter turnout hitting remarkable numbers at 90% before the closing hour. Security arrangements are in place at strong rooms in Howrah ahead of the counting of votes on May 4.
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