Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee on Saturday expressed strong confidence that the Trinamool Congress (TMC) would secure more than 200 of the 294 Assembly seats, just two days before the counting of votes.
During a virtual meeting with counting agents from 291 constituencies, the two leaders instructed party representatives to provide continuous updates on developments at counting centres and to remain present until the entire process concludes, reports The Hindu.
The remaining three seats in the Darjeeling hills were contested by the Bharatiya Gorkha Prajatantrik Morcha, led by Anit Thapa. The two-phase Assembly elections took place on April 23 and April 29, with vote counting scheduled for Monday.
Reiterating her confidence, the Chief Minister said the “TMC will at least win 200-plus seats if not more”, and urged counting agents to ignore what she described as “propaganda and campaign by the BJP and its allies” regarding projected seat tallies.
She assured party workers, including counting agents allegedly assaulted by central forces during campaigning or polling, of support. “We will ensure those party workers who were assaulted by central forces for standing up against their brutalities are financially rewarded,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India appointed 165 additional counting observers and 77 police observers to oversee the counting process in West Bengal.
“Do not give importance to the numerous exit polls telecast on TV channels and the social media,” she told the agents, according to a senior TMC leader.
Dismissing such projections, the TMC supremo remarked that exit polls had failed in previous elections. “The 2021 and 2024 exit polls were way off the mark. I think most such polls are meant to influence the share market,” the CM said.
She further instructed that if any TMC candidate loses by a narrow margin of 200–300 votes, counting agents must demand a recount. “No one should leave the counting centres till the process is over,” she added.
Highlighting past concerns, Banerjee called for vigilance around electrical transformers, referring to a “power outage” during counting in Nandigram in the 2021 elections. She also advised agents to carry food prepared at home.
Addressing the meeting, Abhishek Banerjee echoed the call for strict vigilance and asked agents to insist on recounting, especially of postal ballots, if TMC candidates lose by slim margins.
“All unusual activities inside counting centres, like the sudden power outage at the Nandigram counting centre in 2021, must be immediately reported to the party’s top brass,” he said.
The virtual session, which began at 4pm, continued for nearly two hours. It covered critical aspects of the counting procedure, including the number of rounds and protocols to follow when electronic voting machines (EVMs) are taken out from strong rooms and unsealed.
Despite projecting a “landslide victory”, Mamata Banerjee has repeatedly voiced concerns over possible “counting malpractice and EVM tampering ahead of the day of results”.
Tensions escalated on Thursday evening at two counting centres in Kolkata, where TMC leaders alleged a lack of transparency and potential irregularities in the handling of sealed EVMs from the recently concluded polls.
However, West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer, Manoj Agarwal, had earlier maintained that there was no possibility of malpractice at the counting centres.
During the meeting, Abhishek Banerjee also criticised the Election Commission, alleging bias in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He said legal action would be taken against observers accused of acting in an “unconstitutional” manner.
He further claimed that the BJP lacked confidence in forming the government in West Bengal and accused it of spending large sums on exit poll projections.
