Bengal polls: All eyes on Bhabanipur constituency; Section 163 in place

A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee camped for hours at the counting Centre for her Bhabanipur constituency, alleging possibilities of malpractices, Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal on Friday (May 1) said that given the heavy security arrangement, there was no possibility of any malpractice at the counting centre.

Pointing out that the counting centres are under round-the-clock CCTV surveillance, Agarwal further stated that the allegations were baseless.

"There is no scope for any wrongdoing given the arrangements made," told reporters, adding, "one should have reason and evidence for making allegations."

Police tighten security

Meanwhile, the Kolkata Police has imposed Section 163 of the BNS outside the Sakhawat Memorial School, the counting centre and EVM strong room for the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency, reported the Hindustan Times.

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A senior police officer said enhanced security arrangements have been made at Khudiram Anushilan Kendra, the counting centre for several assembly seats in north and east Kolkata, housing EVM strong rooms.

"Additional CAPFs and armed police forces have also been deployed under the supervision of an additional commissioner and a deputy commissioner of police," Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Kolkata, Rupesh Kumar, told reporters after visiting the area.

Suvendu targets Mamata

During the day, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly and BJP candidate from Bhabanipur Suvendu Adhikari claimed that his election agent kept the TMC supremo under constant surveillance at the counting centre to prevent her from resorting to any misdeeds.

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“I wish to assure the esteemed community of voters from the entire state of West Bengal, including the Bhabanipur constituency, that the Trinamool Congress candidate from this center, namely the the Honorable outgoing Chief Minister, has been strictly instructed to refrain from availing any undue advantages,” stated Adhikari in a post on X.

“No matter how much effort she makes, she has been unable to engage in any activities outside the rules. As long as she was present in the strong room premises, my election agent, Advocate Suryanil Das, was personally there keeping her under strict surveillance so that she could not resort to any dishonest means...,” he added.

Mamata raises alarm

Banerjee, after spending nearly four hours at an EVM strong room in Bhabanipur till the early hours of Friday, warned against any attempt to tamper with the counting process, alleging possible malpractices.

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Sounding a stern note ahead of the May 4 counting, she said that any plan to tamper with the counting process will not be tolerated.

Banerjee had gone to the Bhabanipur assembly segment counting centre, which houses the strong room for EVMs used in the April 29 polling, citing suspicion of tampering with the machines.

TMC cites CCTV footage

TMC candidates Kunal Ghosh and Shashi Panja staged a sit-in on Thursday evening outside Khudiram Anushilan Kendra in central Kolkata, alleging electoral malpractice and tampering with voting machines.

The TMC leaders alleged that live-streamed footage from CCTV cameras revealed the presence of outsiders inside the strong rooms who were "fiddling with ballot papers" from the machines.

The Election Commission of India, however, dismissed the claim regarding the handling of polled materials at the centre, stating that poll officials were engaged in the task of segregating postal ballots as per due process, and the strong rooms remained secure.

(With agency inputs)