West Bengal polls: Eyeball-to-eyeball TMC-BJP confrontation at strongrooms

KOLKATA: Lax security and blacked out CCTV footage at EVM strongrooms led to multiple complaints by both Trinamool and BJP across Bengal on Saturday.

Tension flared at the Barasat Government College on Saturday morning after the CCTV monitoring display reportedly remained non-functional for 17 minutes. According to the complaint, CCTV monitors at the strongroom — where EVMs from the Barasat, Habra, Ashoknagar, and Deganga constituencies are stored — went blank between 8:05 am and 8:22 am. Trinamool demanded that the full footage of that period be made available and that strict action be taken against whoever turned off the monitor.



Trinamool Ashoknagar candidate Narayan Goswami said: "If someone switched off the TV, the EC should have taken immediate action. We need to know what actually happened."

Additional returning officer (ARO) Abhijit Das explained: "We received information around 8:07 am. By 8:20 am, the SDO had arrived. It was found that the monitor had been powered off. Once switched on, the feed resumed. We will show footage from 7:50 am to 8:22 am."

Even as this was happening, the BJP flagged two incidents: one in Salt Lake and another in Burdwan. BJP's Bidhannagar candidate Sharadwat Mukherjee said the strongroom was supposed to be opened on Saturday. He alleged that it was opened multiple times on Friday without official notification. He contacted the returning officer. CPM candidate Soumyajit Raha stated that a complaint had also been lodged with the EC.

BJP's Bengal co-minder Amit Malviya alleged on X: "At the University Institute of Technology (UIT), an attempt was made by a Trinamool goon to scale the compound walls and gain access to a strongroom housing EVMs. The incident was flagged by BJP candidate Sanjay Das, raising serious concerns about the intent behind such actions. This is no ordinary facility; it contains EVMs from five crucial Assembly Constituencies: Burdwan Uttar, Burdwan Dakshin, Galsi, Ausgram, and Bhatar."

In Kolkata, Trinamool's Shyampukur candidate Shashi Panja visited the strongroom on Saturday, where she said security officials initially barred her entry. She was allowed to enter after clarification from the police. She also flagged the lack of CCTVs in the strongroom.
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