Mamata Banerjee Inspects EVM Strongroom, Warns of Tampering

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee visited a strongroom storing electronic voting machines in Kolkata's Bhabanipur constituency late Thursday night, two days before vote counting in the state assembly elections, and warned of fierce resistance to any tampering attempts.

Banerjee, who is contesting from Bhabanipur, arrived at the counting center housed in Sakhawat Memorial School in south Kolkata and spent nearly four hours inside the premises with her election agent. She cited reports of irregularities, including CCTV footage aired on television, as the reason for her visit. Initially, central security forces denied her entry, but she gained access after invoking election rules that allow candidates and their agents to inspect up to the sealed strongroom area.

Emerging around 12:07 a.m. Friday, Banerjee alleged bias by the Election Commission of India, claiming her party's agents had faced arrests and uneven treatment. "If someone tries to steal the EVM machine, if someone tries to steal the counting, then we will fight life and death together," she told reporters. She stressed transparency measures, such as limiting access to one person per candidate inside counting...