Bengal Elections: Uproar outside the strong room in Kolkata, Mamata Banerjee herself took charge, sat outside for four hours

KolkataMay 1. After the completion of voting in West Bengal Assembly elections, ‘Strong Rooms’ now seem to be becoming the new arena of political war. In this sequence, there was a lot of uproar between Trinamool Congress (TMC) and BJP over allegations of ‘suspicious tampering’ with EVMs at Khudiram Anushilan Center in Kolkata on Thursday evening. The situation became so tense that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself had to enter the field at night.

Protest and heavy sloganeering outside the strong room

The uproar started when TMC candidate Kunal Ghosh and minister Shashi Panja alleged that outsiders were roaming suspiciously inside the strong room. In protest against this, both the leaders along with party workers sat on a dharna at the gate of Khudiram Anushilan Kendra.

BJP and their compromised Election Commission have no idea who they are dealing with.

They have imported operatives from other states to swarm the area outside the Netaji Indoor Stadium, staging a media spectacle to mask their fear. We do not need to mobilize. At one command… pic.twitter.com/PHQk7K5fiQ

— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) April 30, 2026

The atmosphere heated up further when BJP candidates Tapas Roy and Santosh Pathak also reached there. There was a heated argument between the two sides and the entire area echoed with slogans of ‘Jai Bangla’ versus ‘Jai Shri Ram’. Police and central forces had to intervene to control the situation and the protesting leaders were removed at around 9.30 pm.

Mamta’s ‘guard‘ And ‘wake up at night‘ Message

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reached the Strong Form cum Counting Center located at Shekhawat Memorial School in Bhawanipur at around 8 pm on Thursday night. He inspected the strong room there and instructed the party candidates and workers to keep a strict vigil.

Our media-savvy @CEOWestBengal,Mr. Manoj Kumar Agarwal, should prioritize his constitutional mandate over late-night press conferences. While he is busy managing optics, @BJP4India has been caught on CCTV attempting to forcefully breach sealed ballot boxes at the Netaji Indoor… pic.twitter.com/saeBC7n9n5

— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) April 30, 2026

CM Mamata herself remained sitting till 12 midnight and came out from there at around 12.10. According to sources, Mamata has instructed the candidates to keep vigil at night and keep someone posted even when they go out for defecation etc.

Commission’s clarification – ‘Work was being done as per rules‘

On TMC’s allegations, Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Aggarwal and other officials held a press conference at night and also shared the letter issued to the candidates with the media. The Election Commission clarified that the strong rooms are completely secure and sealed. According to DEO (North Kolkata) Smita Pandey and the statements of the Commission, only sorting of postal ballots was going on in the corridor of the strong room.

Sorting of postal ballots was going on in the corridor of the strong room.

The commission shared emails and letters as evidence that all candidates and agents were informed on April 29 about the process, which was to take place at 4 pm on April 30. The commission also said that since there was no electricity connection in the strong room, the employees were working legally by torchlight.

Kunal Ghosh ended the protest after getting assurance from the administration that strong rooms would not be opened without notice and additional CCTV cameras and display screens would be installed there. At present, the ‘strong room watch’ between the two parties is expected to continue till the counting of votes on May 4 in Bengal.