Trinamool Congress calls out 'BJP tags' on EVMs in West Bengal
The Trinamool posted on X that five EVMs were found with the tags at Raghunathpur in Bankura, asking the poll panel to urgently take corrective action
West Bengal’s ruling TMC on Saturday (May 25) said that electronic voting machines (EVMs) with “BJP tags” were used in Bankura district but the Election Commission rejected suggestions of any wrongdoing.
The TMC posted on X that five EVMs were found with the tags at Raghunathpur in Bankura constituency. It added that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had repeatedly flagged how the BJP was trying to rig votes by tampering with the EVMs. The party urged the poll panel to immediately to look into the issue and take corrective steps.
The chief election officer of West Bengal explained how the “BJP tags” came into being.
“While commissioning, common address tags were signed by the candidates and their agents present. And since only the BJP candidate's representative was present during that time in the commissioning hall, his signature was taken during commissioning of that EVM and VVPAT,” the official posted on X.
“However, signature of all the agents present in PS No. 56, 58, 60, 61, and 62 was obtained during (the) poll. All the (election commission) norms were duly followed during commissioning which was done entirely under CCTV coverage and was duly videographed,” it added.
Eight seats in West Bengal saw voting on Saturday in the sixth phase of the Lok Sabha elections. Among these were Tamluk, Kanthi, Ghatal, Jhargram, Medinipur, Purulia, Bankura and Bishnupur.