Advocate Kalyan Banerjee and lawyer Biswaroop Bhattacharya have lodged Public Interest Litigations (PILs) in the Calcutta High Court concerning the vote counting procedures for the West Bengal Assembly elections. Banerjee expressed concern over the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) appointment of only Central government employees as supervisors at the counting centers, urging court intervention. Meanwhile, Bhattacharya raised questions about the sudden changes in the counting centers.
Justice Krishna Rao has permitted the filing of these cases, with a hearing expected later in the day. The vote counting is scheduled for May 4, with prior cases related to counting centers already submitted to the High Court. The recent elections in West Bengal, conducted in two phases, were relatively peaceful, with the ECI reducing the number of counting centers to 87 for the 294 seats, down from 108 in the previous elections.
In preparation for the counting process, the ECI has deployed 200 companies of Central security forces to safeguard the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the strong rooms. Additionally, 500 companies of Central forces will remain stationed in West Bengal post-May 4 to prevent any potential post-poll violence. The second phase of elections in West Bengal recorded a high voter turnout of 92.47% for 142 Assembly constituencies, contributing to an overall average of 92.85% across both phases.
