Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Trinamool’s National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee will hold a virtual meeting with all counting agents of the party Saturday, two days ahead of the counting of votes, a senior party leader said.
The meeting scheduled for 4 pm will be attended by the counting agents from the 291 Assembly constituencies, where the ruling party fielded its candidates.
The Anit Thapa-led Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha contested the remaining three seats in the Darjeeling hills.
At the virtual meeting, the leaders are expected to brief the counting agents about their responsibilities to ensure there are no lapses during the counting process May 4.
A senior TMC leader said such 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 after the announcement of the state polls in March.
As the countdown for the poll results begins, the ruling party’s leadership is focusing on tightening coordination among its agents at the counting centres.
The virtual meeting Saturday is being seen as part of efforts to ensure that the counting agents are fully prepared and vigilant.
The briefing will cover 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, the senior TMC leader said.
The counting agents will also be asked to be mobile-savvy as the Election Commission has introduced QR codes as part of security measures during counting this time, he said.
TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee has spent hours at the EVM strongroom of her Bhabanipur constituency, alleging possibilities of malpractices, even as Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal asserted that there was no scope for wrongdoing at the counting centres.
TMC spokesperson and Beleghata candidate Kunal Ghosh said TMC workers and candidates were keeping a strict vigil at the counting centres, where the EVMs are stored in strongrooms, upon directions of Mamata Banerjee.
Two counting centres in Kolkata witnessed high drama late Thursday evening after TMC leaders alleged a lack of transparency and possible malpractice at the strongrooms housing sealed EVMs of the assembly polls, which concluded April 29.
Mamata Banerjee herself landed up at the Sakhawat Memorial School counting centre and stayed put there for about four hours. She emerged from the premises past midnight and warned against any attempts to tamper with the counting process, demanding greater transparency.
TMC leaders and candidates Sashi Panja and Kunal Ghosh held a sit-in outside the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra counting centre Thursday evening, alleging unauthorised activities inside the strongroom amid the absence of TMC agents.
Matters came to a head after a large number of supporters from both TMC and BJP camps gathered outside the venue, shouting slogans till they were dispersed by security forces.
On Friday, Kolkata Police imposed prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the BNSS around all seven designated strong rooms in the city.
In a video message earlier, Mamata Banerjee had urged party leaders, workers and polling agents to maintain a round-the-clock vigil on EVM strong rooms, alleging that the BJP could attempt to tamper with the machines before counting begins.
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