The Election Commission has announced repolling at 15 polling stations in South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, to be held on May 2. This decision follows reports of tampering with electronic voting machines (EVMs) during the second phase of the Assembly elections held on April 29.
The repolling will take place at 11 booths in the Magrahat Paschim Assembly constituency and four booths in the Diamond Harbour Assembly constituency, the commission stated.
In a letter to the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal, the Election Commission cited reports from Returning Officers and Observers of the affected constituencies and invoked sub-section (2) of Section 58 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, to void the previous poll at these stations. Voting will be conducted from 7 am to 6 pm on the scheduled date.
“I am directed to state that based on reports received from the concerned Returning Officers and the Observers of 142-Magrahat Paschim AC and 143-Diamond Harbour AC regarding poll taken for General Election to the Legislative Assembly of West Bengal, 2026, held on 29th April, 2026 and after taking all material circumstances into account, the Commission hereby declares, under sub-section (2) of Section 58 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, that the poll taken on 29th April, 2026 for the aforesaid election at the following Polling Stations (as mentioned in Column 3 of the table below) to be void and appoints 2nd May, 2026 as the date and fixes the hours, for taking fresh poll at the said Polling Stations,” read the official order.
The order also instructed that the repoll should receive the widest possible publicity, including the beating of drums in the polling areas, and that contesting candidates be informed in writing.
West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari welcomed the EC’s decision and suggested repolling was warranted in additional booths. Speaking to reporters, he said, “Whatever happened at Magrahat West is welcomed. The re-polling should have happened in more booths in Diamond Harbour and in the whole of the Falta segment… There is a system and procedure which is being followed… We respect the Election Commission.”
BJP leader Dilip Ghosh stated, “Everyone knows how the polling is done in Diamond Harbour… Efforts were made for the same this time as well, but it failed. Repolling is now taking place wherever such efforts are made, maybe because complaints were received.”
West Bengal Minister Shashi Panja attributed the incidents leading to repolling to the Bharatiya Janata Party. She accused the BJP of provoking other parties to cause disruptions, describing it as a “devious strategy” to defame the state. She said, “The EC thinks that a repoll was warranted out there. That is why, just in the press conference, we replied that this was basically the strategy of the BJP that on the day of the poll, first phase or the second phase, they would provoke the other political parties. There were incidents where they would incite some kind of trouble so that there could be a massive repoll in many more booths. We did not react to their provocation…This was the strategy of the BJP. They are not prepared, they are not winning. They tried this devious strategy that lets us have a repoll in many places and defame Bengal.”
On the day of the second phase polling, BJP co-incharge for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, alleged that voters were prevented from selecting the party candidate at several polling booths in Falta under the Diamond Harbour constituency. He claimed that the BJP option was blocked with tape in multiple booths, terming it the “Diamond Harbour Model,” and demanded repolling.
In a post on X, Malviya wrote, “This is what Mamata Banerjee was defending when she spoke up for Jehangir Khan, a criminal contesting on a TMC ticket from Falta in Diamond Harbour. In several polling booths, the option to vote for the BJP has been blocked using a tape, effectively preventing voters from exercising their choice. This is the so-called ‘Diamond Harbour Model,’ the same template that helped Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee secure his Lok Sabha seat.”
The final phase of polling in the West Bengal Assembly elections concluded on April 29 at 6 pm, with voter turnout reaching 90% before the closing hour. Security measures are in place at strong rooms in Howrah ahead of the vote counting scheduled for May 4.