With vote counting for the West Bengal assembly elections just days away, the Trinamool Congress escalated its political offensive on Wednesday, sharing a video it claimed showed ballot boxes being opened without party representatives present, and directly accusing the BJP and the Election Commission of colluding to manipulate results.
In a post on X, the TMC alleged the CCTV footage was evidence of “gross electoral fraud,” charging that attempts to subvert the election had progressed from voter intimidation and name deletions to EVM tampering.
Senior leaders Shashi Panja and Kunal Ghosh launched a dharna outside Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expected to visit the protest site.
Banerjee had already put the party on war footing, asking candidates and senior leaders to mount 24-hour vigils at all 294 counting centres ahead of May 4. “Stand guard. If I can stand guard, so can you,” she said in a video message, also warning workers to closely watch EVM movement from strong rooms to counting halls, alleging a “plot to swap machines.”
She dismissed exit poll projections favouring the BJP as politically motivated, asserting the TMC would cross the 226-seat mark. “The reason they orchestrated this media campaign is that they clearly realise they cannot stop us,” she said.
At least five exit polls, however, project a BJP advantage, Today’s Chanakya estimating around 192 seats for the saffron party against roughly 100 for the TMC. If accurate, it would end 15 years of Trinamool rule. West Bengal voted in two phases on April 23 and 29, recording turnout above 90 per cent. The final verdict comes on May 4.