Amid TMC's allegations of EVM tampering and "criminal negligence" by the Election Commission, West Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal on Friday asserted there is no scope for wrongdoing at the state's counting centres.
Calling the allegations raised by TMC leaders, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee "baseless," the CEO said, "There is no scope for any wrongdoing given the arrangements made."
"One should have reason and evidence for making allegations," he said.
Agarwal's comments came hours after TMC supremo Mamata spent hours at the Sakhawat Memorial School counting centre for her Bhabanipur constituency on Thursday night, alleging attempts to tamper with the EVMs.
Mamata's visit came after the TMC, in a post on X, shared a purported CCTV footage and claimed that BJP workers were opening ballot boxes without the presence of any relevant party stakeholders, calling it a "murder of democracy in broad daylight."
TMC candidates Kunal Ghosh and Shashi Panja repeated the allegations and staged a sit-in outside Khudiram Anushilan Kendra in central Kolkata on Thursday evening.
Kunal Ghosh, who is also the spokesperson for the TMC, on Friday said that party workers and poll aspirants were keeping a strict vigil at the counting centres, where the EVMs are stored in strong rooms.
A senior police officer said enhanced security arrangements have been made at Khudiram Anushilan Kendra, the counting centre for several assembly seats in north and east Kolkata, housing EVM strong rooms.
"Additional CAPFs and armed police forces have also been deployed under the supervision of an additional commissioner and a deputy commissioner of police," Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Kolkata, Rupesh Kumar, told reporters after visiting the area.
Expressing apprehension that unauthorised movements might occur when a section of postal ballots is brought in the evening, Ghosh said the party's polling agents and candidates have been alerted about the matter.
Minister Shashi Panja, who also arrived at Khudiram Anushilan Kendra in the morning, maintained that there must be "transparency."
Ghosh told reporters on Friday that though they had seen some movement in a strong room that allegedly stored postal ballots, there was no such movement on Friday morning.
Security forces were keeping a strict vigil in and around counting centres in Kolkata and other districts where EVM machines used in the West Bengal assembly elections are stored, an official said here.
The Election Commission earlier dismissed the claim regarding the handling of polled materials at the centre, stating that poll officials were engaged in the task of segregating postal ballots as per due process and the strong rooms remained secure.
(With inputs from PTI)