As the voting for the first phase of 30 seats in Bengal and 47 in Assam Assembly elections began on Saturday morning, the Trinamool Congress alleged discrepancy in poll turnout and malfunctioning of EVMs.

Trinamool MP Derek O’Brien wrote a letter to the Election Commission to look into the matter. Following which the delegation of Trinamool Congress met the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer at 12 noon on Saturday to raise some serious concerns as polling for the first phase of state assembly elections is underway.

Polling booths across both states opened at 7 am and closes at 6 pm and the timings have been extended by an hour due to the Covid pandemic.

EVM malfunction has been reported at Booth 98 and 99 in West Bengal’s Kharagpur. A large number of voters queued up outside the polling station and a few people were stopped at the gate to avoid overcrowding at the polling booth.

Taking cognizance on the matter, the Trinamool Congress shared voting turnout figures from East Medinipur district and asked the Election Commission of India to explain how voting percentage drastically reduced to half within a gap of just 5 minutes? In another tweet, the TMC talked about claims that people were not able to vote for Trinamool. Many voters in Kanthi Dakshin assembly seat allege that they voted for TMC but VVPAT showed them the BJP symbol. Calling it shocking and serious, the party urged the Election Commission of India and Chief Electoral Officer WestBengal to looked into matter and it must be resolved immediately.

After meeting with Chief Electoral Officer, Trinamool leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay shared some concerns with him. In the meeting, the party demanded a local polling agent of the concerned polling booth must be there from the next phase.

As per official figures, the state, which recording a polling percentage of 85.4 per cent in 2016 assembly election, saw a voter turnout of 36 per cent till 12 PM.

More than 70 lakh people from the districts of Purulia and Jhargram and a segment of Bankura, Purba Medinipur, and Paschim Medinipur are eligible to vote in the first phase. In the 2016 state election, the Trinamool had claimed 26 of these 30 seats.

This time, the state is witnessing a triangular contest between Mamata Banerjee’s party, the BJP and the Congress-Left alliance.

The Reports of EVM malfunction have been reported from multiple districts of Assam. As per reports, Lahowal, Naharkatia, Upper Hatimor LP School, North Gohpur High School are among few places which have faced the technical glitch.

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