Stay alert during counting, seek recounts in close contests: Mamata to agents

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is set to hold a crucial virtual meeting with TMC counting agents to ensure a smooth and fair vote counting process in the upcoming assembly election results.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday told counting agents of the party during a meeting that it will secure over 200 of the 294 assembly seats, two days ahead of the counting of votes polled.

The two leaders, who held a virtual meeting with counting agents of 291 assembly seats, also told them that they should regularly update the leadership about the prevailing situation at counting centres and must remain there till the end of the exercise.

The Anit Thapa-led Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha (BGPM) contested the remaining three seats in the Darjeeling hills.

The two-phase assembly polls were held on April 23 and April 29, with counting of votes scheduled for May 4.

The CM, who asserted that the "TMC will at least win 200-plus seats if not more", also asked counting agents not to give importance to the "propaganda and campaign by the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies" about the number of seats they would secure.

She said that the TMC will stand beside party activists, including counting agents, who were allegedly assaulted by central forces during voting or campaigning.

"We will ensure those party workers who were assaulted by central forces for standing up against their brutalities are financially rewarded," she said.

"Do not give importance to the numerous exit polls telecast on TV channels and the social media," she told the agents, according to a senior TMC leader.

The TMC supremo said such exit polls have no value. "The 2021 and 2024 exit polls were way off the mark. I think most such polls are meant to influence the share market," the CM said.

She also said that in case of any TMC candidate losing a seat by "a margin of 200-300 votes", the counting agents must insist on recounting.

"No one should leave the counting centres till the process is over," the chief minister said.

She also called for surveillance by party cadres near electrical transformers, citing the "power outage" during counting at Nandigram in the 2021 polls.

The TMC chief said the counting agents must carry food items prepared at home.

Abhishek Banerjee, who also interacted with the counting agents virtually, asked them to insist on recounting, particularly for postal ballots, in case of defeat of TMC nominees by a narrow margin.

"All unusual activities inside counting centres, like the sudden power outage at the Nandigram counting centre in 2021, must be immediately reported to the party's top brass," he said.

The virtual meeting, which began at 4 pm, lasted for nearly two hours.

Virtual interactions had been a regular feature during the revision of electoral rolls, with Abhishek Banerjee holding multiple meetings with booth-level agents between November and February.

However, such meetings were not held by either Abhishek Banerjee or Mamata Banerjee after the announcement of the assembly polls in March, but by leaders like Mahua Moitra.

The Saturday briefing also covered key aspects of the counting process, including the number of rounds and protocols to be followed once the electronic voting machines (EVMs) are brought out of strong rooms and unsealed.

Despite expressing her confidence of a "landslide victory", Mamata Banerjee has repeatedly aired her apprehensions of "counting malpractice and EVM tampering ahead of the day of results".

Two counting centres in Kolkata witnessed high drama late on Thursday evening, after TMC leaders alleged a lack of transparency and possible malpractice at the strong rooms housing sealed EVMs of the assembly polls, which concluded on April 29.

Mamata Banerjee herself landed up at the Sakhawat Memorial School counting centre on Thursday and stayed put for about four hours.

West Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer, Manoj Agarwal, had earlier asserted that there was no scope for wrongdoing at the counting centres.

During the meeting, Abhishek Banerjee also targeted the Election Commission, alleging that it had functioned in favour of the BJP. He asserted that legal action would be initiated against observers accused of acting in an "unconstitutional" manner.

He claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party was not confident of forming the government in West Bengal, and accused it of spending crores of rupees on exit poll projections.