Mamata Banerjee Raises EVM Swap Charge, How Do EVM Tampering Allegations Affect Public Trust In West Bengal Elections?

1st May 2026 at 7:24 PM

1 minute read

New Delhi : A day after votes were cast and days before the counting of the mandate on May 4, West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC Matriarch-in-Chief Mamata Banerjee stood in rain outside a strongroom (meant to store Electronic Voting Machines or EVMs) in southern Kolkata. Standing guard, Mamata told Trinamool Congress workers to maintain a 24-hour vigil around all strongrooms in Bengal.

Even as West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal dismissed the TMC’s allegations of suspicious activities with the EVM, can such malpractices be actually carried out in strongrooms with round-the-clock surveillance? The CM’s concern came days ahead of counting of the votes for the West Bengal Assembly polls. The Bengal election, with record polling, marked the most intense run-to-the-wire poll battle in the state.

Facing her toughest challenge since the 2011 polls where she trounced the CPI(M), Mamata Banerjee on Thursday directed her workers to closely monitor the movement of EVMs. “During this critical window, when the EVMs are being moved from storage to the counting halls, they [the BJP] have hatched a plot to swap the machines,” Mamata claimed. However, contrary to the allegations, manipulating or swapping EVMs during storage and transportation is far more difficult than it appears, according to experts.

After polling concludes, Quraishi wrote that the EVMs are sealed with paper seals and placed in plastic boxes, which are also sealed. They are transported directly from polling stations to designated strongrooms. These strongrooms are locked and sealed in the presence of candidates, their agents, and the ECI’s observer. Candidates and their representatives are also permitted to affix their own seals on the strongroom locks and may maintain a vigil until counting begins, with necessary facilities provided for the purpose.