Jolt to TMC! Supreme Court rejects plea challenging central staff deployment at Bengal counting centres

The TMC had approached the apex court contesting a decision by the Election Commission of India, after facing a similar setback in the Calcutta High Court.

During the hearing, the top court questioned the rationale behind the plea, observing that there was no substantive distinction between central and state government personnel in the context of election duty.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who was representing the TMC, referred to the ECI circular and said the seeking of central government nominee apprehending discrepency is raising a finger at the state. 

Rubbishing the allegations, Justice Joymalya Bagchi said as quoted by NDTV, "It hardly matters if he is a central government nominee or not. It is to the subjective satisfaction of the EC. Your counting agents will be there and so will others.

"Then counting assistant, counting supervisor and microobserver who is a central government officer."

"We cannot hold that this notification is contrary to the regulation since one is a central government officer, but the others are not. To choose wholly from one pool cannot be said to be incorrect,"

The two-phase polling in West Bengal was conducted on April 23 and April 29, with the results scheduled to be declared on May 4.

TMC alleges attempts to replace EVMs

A massive ruckus broke out on the evening of April 30 after Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidates Kunal Ghosh and Shashi Panja rushed to Khudiram Anushilan Kendra in central Kolkata, alleging suspicious movement inside strong rooms where EVMs were stored.

Tensions escalated as large numbers of TMC and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters gathered at the spot, triggering a clash with both sides accusing each other of attempting to tamper with or replace the voting machines.

The situation further intensified when TMC supremo and Bhabanipur candidate Mamata Banerjee rushed to Sakhawat Memorial Government Girls' High School and camped there, raising similar allegations.

At around midnight, Banerjee left for her residence after claiming attempts were being made to replace EVMs.

She said party workers had been deployed round-the-clock to guard the strong rooms amid heightened security.