‘Murder of democracy’: TMC accuses EVMs in Kolkata vault of being tampered with; EC responds

New Delhi: TMC has leveled pointed accusations of tampering with EVMs against the BJP and the West Bengal Election Commission. The party shared CCTV footage from the EVM vault, accusing BJP workers of trying to rig votes without any relevant authority. In response to the allegations, the European Commission issued an official statement updating the security measures in place for a fair electoral vote count.The TMC also shared the news of its leaders Shashi Panja and Kunal Ghosh protesting at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, where an EVM safe room has been set up and Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is also about to arrive.

They shared the video on X and wrote: “Shocking! This is the murder of democracy in broad daylight. CCTV footage revealed how the PPP actively colluded with the Election Commission to open the ballot boxes without the presence of any relevant party stakeholders. This was serious electoral fraud committed openly with the full knowledge and protection of the Electoral Commission. “It also claimed, “They tried every dirty trick, deletion of names, intimidation of voters, terror from central forces, flooding with cash, but failed miserably. Now, in desperation, they started tampering with EVMs. But Bengal is not Maharashtra, Delhi or Bihar. We will not sit back and watch them loot our democracy.”Reacting to the protest by party leaders, the Trinamool Congress official chief further updated, “Our leaders Shashi Panja and Shri Kunal Ghosh have started a rally outside the Netaji Indoor Stadium. Mamata Banerjee will personally inspect the site and assess the situation.” The people of Bangladesh are witnessing this robbery in broad daylight. We will not allow the Delhi Zamindars and their puppet Election Commission to steal the people’s mandate.“The Electoral Commission considered the situation and issued a detailed statement. “According to the video circulating on social media, there are seven air-conditioned solid rooms inside Kgudiram Anushilan Kendra. All these rooms were formally closed and sealed after the polling yesterday in the presence of candidates/election agents and general observers,” the statement said. The last Strong room closes around 5.15am.“Further updating on the precautions taken, it said, “All the vaults containing the polling EVMs have been securely secured and sealed. There is another vault for postal ballots at the same location where we have kept the AC wise vote ballots done by different polling officers and ETBPS. We have informed all observers, ROs and requested the ROs to inform their candidates and agents about the situation. ⁠RO notifies political parties via email.“It added, “Segregation of ballot papers is taking place from 4 pm in the vault corridor containing the polling premises. The main vault has been securely secured and locked. The same has been communicated to the BJP’s Shashi Panja, Kunal Ghosh and Kali.”The protest also came after Bengal’s chief minister rejected exit poll forecasts that showed the BJP leading the trend.