Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], May 1 : TMC MP Saugata Roy on Friday raised concerns over alleged irregularities in strong room security ahead of vote counting, claiming attempts to influence the process and demanding strict monitoring by authorities.
Speaking to ANI, TMC MP Saugata Roy said, "Unauthorised people entered the strong room from outside. Kunal Ghosh and Shashi Panja also staged a protest regarding this. Some people want to tamper with the counting process. I also saw that some people from Gujarat were shouting slogans outside the Shekhawat Memorial Girls School, where the votes for the Chief Minister's constituency will be counted..."
He further alleged political interference, adding, "We suspect that the BJP wants to interfere with the counting process, so the Chief Minister has warned everyone."
Meanwhile, on the issue of strong room security amid allegations of vote tampering, TMC candidate from Siliguri Assembly constituency and Siliguri Mayor Goutam Deb said, "We strongly condemn yesterday's incident. The mandate of the people should be properly counted. If there is any attempt to manipulate it, EC will be held responsible, and the people of Bengal, along with TMC workers, will protest..."
He further added, "We have our guards up, our teams are monitoring the strong room around the clock... People's mandate is very against the BJP, TMC will emerge victorious."
Earlier on Thursday, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the Bhabanipur strong room in Kolkata and said that her party will prevent all attempts, if made, to tamper with electronic voting machines.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited the Bhabanipur strong room. TMC supremo here is facing BJP's Suvendu Adhikari.
Claiming that her party received reports of EVM tampering in many parts of the state, Banerjee said, "There is a strong room here for EVMs. We found that in many places, manipulation is taking place. When I saw the CCTV on TV, I thought I should also go and see it. Initially, the Central Forces wouldn't let me enter. But according to our election rules, the candidate and election agent of any party are allowed up to the sealed room."
Asserting that TMC is facing a biased stance from the Election Commission of India, CM Banerjee said, "Our agent has been arrested; there has been so much one-sidedness. Even after that, if someone tries to steal the EVM machine, if someone tries to steal the counting, then we will fight life and death together."
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