Kolkata strongroom allegedly breached, Mamata spends 4 hours guarding
What's the story
Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee spent nearly four hours inside a strongroom at Sakhawat Memorial School in Bhabanipur late Thursday night after her party alleged that ballot boxes were opened without authorized representatives present, shortly after the second phase of polling ended. The party accused the BJP and the Election Commission of allowing activity without opposition oversight.
Protest details
'Central forces restricted me'
Banerjee arrived late at night and remained inside the strongroom until around 12:07am. "I have come here because there is a strong room here for EVMs, we found manipulations at many places, so when I saw it on TV, I thought I should visit, I came, but the central forces restricted me, I told I have a right to go, as per election rule, candidates are allowed till outside the sealed room. I was then allowed," she told PTI.
Disputed procedures
EC calls TMC's claims baseless
After spending nearly four hours inside, she warned against tampering. "Either the candidate or one agent can stay upstairs. I have also suggested installation of a CCTV camera," she told reporters. Simultaneously, TMC workers held a sit-in protest outside a strongroom at Netaji Indoor Stadium, where EVMs for several Assembly constituencies in north Kolkata are stored. This was after Banerjee released a video warning workers about the possibility of EVM tampering and urged them to guard strongrooms until counting began.
Twitter Post
TMC shares video of alleged ballot tampering
❗️ALARMING❗️
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) April 30, 2026
This is the murder of democracy in broad daylight.
CCTV footage has exposed how @BJP4India, in active collusion with the @ECISVEEP, is opening ballot boxes without the presence of any relevant party stakeholders. This is gross electoral fraud being committed openly… pic.twitter.com/aSe36kGKPI
BJP response
ECI dismissed these claims
The Election Commission (EC) has dismissed these claims as baseless, asserting that all procedures were followed and strongrooms are secure. "The last strongroom was closed in the morning around 5:15 am. All strong rooms containing polled EVMs are safely secured and sealed. There is another strongroom in the same premises for the postal ballots, wherein we have kept AC-wise polled ballots as done by different polling personnel and ETBPS," the EC said.
Election update
BJP responds
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has also dismissed the claims, with leader Tapas Roy alleging that rumors were being spread by a "scared TMC." BJP's IT Cell head Amit Malviya called Banerjee's visit to the strongroom a "clearest exit poll for West Bengal." He said, "Mamata Banerjee's theatrics this evening are perhaps the clearest 'exit poll' for West Bengal. The writing on the wall is evident and so is the desperation to distract from it."