Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], May 1 : West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari on Friday dubbed Trinamool Congress's allegations of voter tampering in EVM strong rooms as "drama", stating that the ruling party orchestrated the act for publicity.
Speaking with ANI, Adhikari stated that there's no need to give much weight to the allegations, adding that TMC is "going out of power" in West Bengal.
"This is all a drama. There is no ground reality to it. This is unnecessary. They are doing this for publicity. There is no need to give them much weightage," he said.
"TMC is about to lose. They are going out of power. They had turned politics into a profession. If TMC goes out, they will be completely ruined. We will get more seats than those required to form a government," he added.
The controversy erupted after the TMC alleged that the BJP, "in active collusion" with the Election Commission, "is opening ballot boxes without the presence of any relevant party stakeholders" and said, "this is the murder of democracy in broad daylight."
In a post on X, the party also shared a video, stating that "opening of ballot boxes" is gross electoral fraud.
However, West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal clarified that the EVMs strong rooms are "safe and secure" in response to TMC allegations, asserting that there is no "controversy" in the incident.
"No CCTV was turned off. CCTV footage of all 8 strong rooms there, 7 of EVMs and 1 of the postal ballot, is being telecast. Political parties' people can sit beyond the three-layer security and see this. They saw some movement around 4 pm when our staff was opening the postal ballot room as per the rules. As per the rule, all political parties were informed, and all candidates were informed by the RO (Returning Officer). They should have come here...After 4 pm, 3 candidates had come, and they saw everything that the EVMs' strong rooms were sealed while the postal ballot's strong room was open. The 3 then left," Agarwal told ANI.
"There will be no law and order situation. These things happen. The law and order situation is fine. Counting will be 100% neat and clean just like the elections were," he added.
The development comes a day after the second and final phase of polling in West Bengal. The state saw a record 92.67% voter turnout. Votes will be counted on May 4.
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