Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], May 5 : Trinamool Congress (TMC) general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday said that a fact-finding committee will be formed to examine the alleged discrepancies in the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) used in the assembly polls. He added that EVMs can be swapped even though they may not be manipulated.
He highlighted that the EVMs used for voting were cross-checked at the counting tables, and their serial numbers did not match the records listed in Form 17C. He also alleged that 90 per cent of EVMs that were used for 12 hours had 92 to 95 per cent charge.
"The way these people have looted (votes)...I give you 100 such CCTV footage from counting centres and let EC release 10 such footage. The footage of the entire day from counting centres, especially from 12 noon to 6 pm, be released. While the votes cast within the EVMs themselves may not have been manipulated, the EVM units can be swapped. We have received feedback from numerous locations feedback which was formally submitted to the Returning Officers on the day of counting indicating that when the specific EVMs used for voting were cross-checked at the counting tables, their serial numbers did not match the records listed in Form 17C," Banerjee said.
"The machines were used for 12 hours, but 90 per cent of the machines had 92-95 per cent charge. How is this possible? This will be discussed in the party. We will form a fact-finding committee," he added.
Banerjee said that several cases of counting centres were reported regarding such instances of EVM mismatch. He further alleged that the counting agents were forcibly removed after 2 pm at various counting centres, only to "manufacture an atmosphere" that the BJP is leading.
"Reports regarding 10 such mismatched EVMs have come in from Kalyani, and similar reports have arrived from Memari; all formal complaints regarding these instances have been duly submitted. There are approximately 100 such counting centres whereshould one choose to challenge the results in courtit can be demonstrated that, after 2:00 PM, all counting agents were either forcibly removed or driven away through violence; all of this is recorded on CCTV footage," he said.
"In centres where 80-90 per cent of the counting should ideally have been completed by 2:00 PM, only 3-4 rounds of counting had actually taken place, according to the ECI's own timestamps. In some places, 20 rounds of counting remained pending; in others, 24 rounds. By holding back 10 per cent of the vote count while projecting a leadand with the assistance of the mediathey successfully manufactured an atmosphere suggesting that the BJP had already won," he added.
Quoting the Supreme Court's order stating that "randomisation rule should be implemented in both letter and spirit", Banerjee said that only central staff were appointed at the counting centres. He highlighted that the Counting Observers and Micro-Observers were the central government's employees, while the Returning Officers were appointed by the Election Commission (ECI).
"There were no state government representatives present at these locations; the Counting Observers and Micro-Observers were all appointees of the Central Government. The ECI had installed its own Returning Officersreplacing state government officials with their own hand-picked loyalists. Furthermore, the security personnel guarding the premises consisted entirely of paramilitary forces. The Supreme Court had issued an order mandating that the 'randomisation rule should be implemented in both letter and spirit', a rule requiring the presence of employees from *both* the State and Central governmentsyet, in these centres, only Central government employees were present. There are numerous counting centres where this irregularity occurred," he remarked.
The remarks follow the BJP's spectacular win in West Bengal with 207 seats declared on Monday. TMC, which has been in power in West Bengal for the past 15 years, won 80 seats.
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