ECI orders re-polling on May 2 in 15 polling stations in 2 Bengal assembly seats

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered re-polling on May 2 in 15 polling stations in two Assembly constituencies in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district following reports of electronic voting machine (EVM) tampering during the second phase of voting held on Thursday.

“Re-polls have been ordered in 11 polling booths in the Magrahat Paschim assembly seat and four polling booths in the Diamond Harbor Assembly constituency. We are still awaiting reports on the complaints from the Falta assembly seat,” said a senior poll panel official in Kolkata.

Re-voting will be held on May 2 from 07:00 to 18:00.

The ECI received at least 77 complaints related to EVM tampering during the second phase of elections in West Bengal.

“While 32 came from Falta, 13 were received from Magrahat, 29 were received from Diamond Harbour, and three were received from Budge Budge,” said an official.

A total of 142 Assembly seats spread over eight districts went to the polls in the second phase on Wednesday. Elections were held in 152 seats in the first phase on April 23. No orders for re-voting were issued in the first phase.

EC officials said that in some cases, the buttons of a political party on EVMs were found to be covered with adhesive tape or blackened with ink, preventing voters from casting their votes. In others, attar was affixed to the buttons so that anyone pressing them could be identified by rival parties.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) demanded a re-poll claiming that the decision Trinamool Congress (TMC) was behind the tampering.

“In several polling booths, the option to vote for the BJP has been blocked using a tape, effectively preventing voters from exercising their choice. This is the so-called ‘Diamond Harbor Model’, the same template that helped Mamata Banerjee’s cousin Abhishek Banerjee secure his Lok Sabha seat in an all-media incident. Booth 189 was similarly compromised along with several others,” BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya said on Written April 29.

In her post, Malviya uploaded three videos in which the EVM of Part 170 (Harindanga High School) was allegedly compromised. HT could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.

TMC leader Kunal Ghosh hit back and said, “The BJP knows very well that it will lose the elections in these constituencies. That’s why they are demanding re-polls. They are just harassing the people. Voters will have to stand in the queue again and cast their vote. BJP will lose anyway.”