TMC vs. BJP Tension Peaks Over Strong Room Security as Counting Nears in West Bengal

TMC MP Saugata Roy recently alleged irregularities in the strong room security ahead of vote counting in West Bengal. He demanded vigilant monitoring by authorities, claiming attempts were made to tamper with the counting process.

Speaking to ANI on Friday (May 1st, 2026), Roy said, "Unauthorised people entered the strong room from outside. Kunal Ghosh and Shashi Panja also staged a protest regarding this. Some people want to tamper with the counting process. I also saw that some people from Gujarat were shouting slogans outside the Shekhawat Memorial Girls School, where the votes for the Chief Minister's constituency will be counted. We suspect that the BJP wants to interfere with the counting process, so the Chief Minister has warned everyone."

Similar sentiments were echoed by TMC candidate from Siliguri Assembly constituency and Siliguri Mayor Goutam Deb, who said, "We strongly condemn yesterday's incident. The mandate of the people should be properly counted. If there is any attempt to manipulate it, EC will be held responsible, and the people of Bengal, along with TMC workers, will protest."

Further allegations about electoral irregularities were also raised by West Bengal minister Dr Shashi Panja, who accused the Election Commission of India (ECI) of restricting access to footage, which was earlier allowed to every political party.
Speaking to reporters, Panja called it a "one-sided" decision. "The Election Commission has decided that the places where cameras were previously installed and whose footage of every political party could be viewed before, have now been restricted. Now only those agents will be able to view it whose names we will provide. This is a one-sided decision. Their rules keep changing all the time," she said.

West Bengal has achieved its highest voter turnout since independence, reaching a historic 91.66 per cent during Phase II of the elections. However, the polling day also witnessed high political tensions between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the deployment of security forces in the state.
According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), poll participation in West Bengal (Phase-II) stood at 91.66 per cent till 7:45 PM. In phase I of the elections on April 23, the poll participation was 93.19 per cent, resulting in a staggering combined poll percentage over the two phases at 92.47 per cent."The combined poll percentage over the two phases stands at 92.47%. Previously, the highest poll-participation in WB was 84.72% (2011 GELA), " a release from the ECI said.
The voter turnout was high across the board, with female voters leading at 92.28 per cent and male voters not far behind at 91.07 per cent.

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