Kolkata

The All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Saturday lodged a complaint with the Election Commission of India, alleging irregularities involving postal ballots at an EVM strongroom in Kolkata.

Party workers stationed outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra claimed that eight trunks containing postal ballot covers were brought to the facility around 4 am and later moved to a room allegedly not covered by CCTV surveillance.

Raising concerns over transparency, TMC members said all areas connected with the storage of electronic voting machines and postal ballots should remain under uninterrupted camera monitoring. They questioned why the trunks were allegedly taken to a location outside CCTV coverage.

The Khudiram Anushilan Kendra currently houses EVMs from multiple assembly constituencies in north and east Kolkata.

Tensions escalated at the site when Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Purnima Chakraborty arrived with supporters, leading to slogan-shouting by workers from both parties. Police personnel intervened to prevent the situation from spiralling.

Chakraborty accused the ruling party of creating unrest due to fears of an electoral setback.

The TMC later confirmed that it had formally approached the Election Commission over the alleged incident.

Similar protests were also reported outside the strongroom at Barasat Government College in North 24 Parganas district, where TMC workers alleged that CCTV monitoring was interrupted for 17 minutes.

TMC candidate Narayan Goswami reached the site and demanded access to the facility.

Election officials, however, denied any lapse in surveillance, stating that the cameras continued functioning normally and that only the power cables connected to external display monitors had snapped temporarily. Officials added that the 17-minute footage would be made available to any political party seeking verification.

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In a separate development in Purba Bardhaman, the BJP circulated a video purportedly showing a person scaling the wall of a building where EVMs were stored. Election authorities dismissed the allegation, clarifying that the video was old and the individual seen was involved in installing CCTV cameras and air-conditioning equipment.