West Bengal Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari has accused several officers assigned to counting day duties of disclosing specific details such as their locations and designations to their departmental organisations and associations, describing the practice as a serious breach of election protocol.

In a post on X on Sunday, before the vote counting scheduled for May 4, Adhikari stated, "It has come to my notice that several Officers assigned for Counting Day duties are reportedly disclosing their specific duty details, locations, and designations to their respective departmental organisations and associations."

He alleged that spreadsheets and lists were being circulated in which officers were "voluntarily or under pressure" providing their "Election Duty Info," including their precise roles in the counting process.

Addressing the potential consequences, Adhikari said, "This is a grave violation of election protocols," and warned that such actions could have significant implications. He expressed concerns that the disclosure might lead to undue political influence, stating, "When an Officer's specific deployment is known to a politically tilted organisation or union, it opens the doors for unnecessary political influence and intimidation."

He emphasised the importance of confidentiality for maintaining impartiality, noting, "The sanctity of the counting process relies on the confidentiality of personnel deployment. Any breach of this secrecy directly affects the impartiality of the results."

Adhikari further asserted that the data collection could serve as a method of applying pressure on officers to favour the ruling dispensation during the counting period. He called on the Election Commission of India and the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal to promptly address the issue by prohibiting officers from revealing their counting duties and to investigate those organisations allegedly gathering such sensitive information.

Similarly, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Saumitra Khan raised concerns about irregularities involving officials. In a post on X, Khan accused officials of soliciting counting officers' identification details via WhatsApp to create fake credentials, writing, "@ECISVEEP must take immediate action against the alleged fraud by ROs & DMs. Our democracy is at stake. IPAC/TMC-linked DMs & ROs are allegedly soliciting counting officers' IDs via WhatsApp to create fake credentials."