The West Bengal Chief Minister, leading a no-holds barred effort to retain power in the state for a fourth time, took to X at 1.12 am. “Be vigilant. Keep watch. Stay awake at night. File complaints,” she posted hours before counting was to begin for a new 294-seat Assembly.
Mamata’s post went on allege preparations for foul play by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). “I’m receiving reports from various places that load-shedding is being deliberately imposed. From Hooghly’s Serampore, Nadia’s Krishnanagar, to Burdwan’s Ausgram, and Kolkata’s Kshudiram Anushilan Kendra, such incidents have come to light where load-shedding is being done in phases, CCTV is being turned off, and vehicles are moving in and out of strong rooms. I am calling upon my party workers: just as I am staying up all night to keep an eye on everything, you too stay up all night and guard the people’s votes in the strong rooms. If anyone creates any suspicious situation anywhere, surround them, file complaints immediately, and demand CCTV footage. All of this is being done at the behest of the BJP,” the chief minister said in the post.
As day dawned, officialdom struck back. News agency ANI reported State Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal as saying that the “arrangements are the same everywhere, there are no sensitive or non-sensitive counting centres… There is a three-tier security. Besides CAPF, there are the Armed Police and State Police. All kinds of arrangements are in place. There is no issue at all.”
On Mamata’s allegations, Agarwal was quoted as saying, “Power cuts are not in the hands of [the] Election Commission. It is up to the power department. I have made all requests for the power department to provide an uninterrupted power supply. Generators are available too, there will be no issue.”
Most exit polls have predicted a tight contest in West Bengal, a prize that the BJP has sought since the 2016 edition and has been repeatedly denied by the Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress.
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)