Kolkata: After its defeat in the Bengal assembly election this May, the Trinamool Congress party almost immediately fell apart. Many erstwhile loyalists either joined the Bharatiya Janata Party or moved into what is mockingly described in Bengal’s political circles as the “good Trinamool” camp.The Election Commission has now frozen the party symbol of the twin flowers on grass, drawn by deposed supremo Mamata Banerjee herself. Neither Banerjee, nor the rival faction leader Ritabrata Banerjee have the Trinamool Congress name or symbol. But barely a week after the Election Commission’s decision on the Trinamool Congress, the country was rocked by news reports on Indian Express, noting that two Election Commissioners were in formal disagreement with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s conduct with the special intensive revision of rolls, especially in Bengal.On September 23, Mamata Banerjee went live on social media. She said:“BJP has hijacked the entire counting process. Not just SIR – BJP has looted votes, looted EVMs, hijacked counting booths. SIR now stands for ‘Special Incentive for BJP’… This Election Commissioner must be arrested. He has no moral authority to continue.”Banerjee’s allegations against CEC Kumar may have been emotional but amidst a nationwide movement for his resignation, there is value in looking closer at one particular point in her diatribe – the alleged hijack of counting booths.The counting booth in Bhabanipur, one of the most high-voltage constituencies in the last Bengal assembly election, offers a case in point.Mamata Banerjee, the former chief minister and a resident of Bhabanipur, was defeated from the constituency by the current chief minister, Suvendu Adhikari. Adhikari contested both Nandigram, his home seat, and Bhabanipur, winning both and eventually leaving the former and necessitating a bypoll there.On counting day, May 4, early leads suggested that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was headed for a landslide victory, bringing an end to the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress government’s 15-year rule.Yet Bhabanipur, the chief minister’s constituency, seemed to be telling a different story. Round after round, television channels showed Mamata Banerjee maintaining a comfortable lead over Adhikari.Then, suddenly, the counting stopped.Television anchors announced an unexpected halt in the counting process at the constituency’s counting centre inside Sakhawat Memorial School. Shortly afterwards, Mamata Banerjee rushed to the venue. Emerging from the counting centre, she levelled explosive allegations, claiming that BJP workers, aided by Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and Election Commission officials, had forcibly driven her party’s counting agents out of the hall.As television viewers watched in disbelief, the trends changed dramatically. Banerjee’s lead rapidly disappeared and, by the end of the day, Suvendu Adhikari was declared the winner by a margin of 15,105 votes.Since then, the Trinamool Congress has repeatedly alleged that the results in at least 100 assembly constituencies were manipulated after opposition counting agents were violently forced out of counting centres. The party’s accusations have not been directed solely at the BJP, but also at the Election Commission headed by CEC Kumar.Unhappy with the Bhabanipur result, Mamata Banerjee filed an election petition under the Representation of the People Act, accusing Adhikari of corrupt electoral practices, including bribery, undue influence, promoting enmity and deliberately manipulating the counting process.Bengal CM and Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate from Bhabanipur constituency, Mamata Banerjee, shows a victory sign after casting a vote in the second and final phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections, at a polling station in Kolkata, Wednesday, April 29, 2026. Photo: PTI.On June 23, a single-judge Bench of Justice Gaurang Kanth of the Calcutta high court directed the Returning Officer to preserve all Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines and CCTV footage from the counting centre at Sakhawat Memorial School.During the hearing, Senior Advocate Kalyan Banerjee, appearing for the Trinamool Congress leader, alleged that the counting process was disrupted midway.According to the submissions made before the court, Banerjee was leading by around 7,800 votes at the end of the 12th round. Counsel alleged that Adhikari entered the counting hall at around 3 pm, during the 13th round, after which opposition counting agents were assaulted and forcibly evicted from the premises. So what actually happened inside Sakhawat Memorial School on May 4?The Wire spoke to several counting agents who were present inside the counting centre that day. Their testimonies came from across the political spectrum – including the Trinamool Congress, the Congress, The SUCI(C) and the CPI(M). While their political affiliations differed, many of their accounts converged on a crucial claim: that the atmosphere inside the counting hall changed dramatically after Adhikari arrived during the later rounds of counting, and that opposition counting agents were subsequently forced to leave.The first among those witnesses was Priyadarshini Hakim, one of Mamata Banerjee’s counting agents. The daughter of former Kolkata Mayor Firhad (Bobby) Hakim, she released a video statement lasting more than fifteen minutes immediately after the counting concluded. Although the video was aired extensively by several local media outlets, it received little attention from much of mainstream media.‘We were told BJP had crossed 200 seats – now leave’ In her video statement, Priyadarshini Hakim made a series of explosive allegations, claiming that what she witnessed inside the counting hall fundamentally changed her understanding of how elections could allegedly be manipulated.“Today, I witnessed how votes can be looted – with the CRPF standing by,” she said, adding that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself was present during the unfolding events.The Wire has reached out to the CRPF for its comments on the conduct of its personnel. This report will be updated if there is a response.According to Hakim, the counting proceeded normally until around the 10th or 12th round. By then, the Trinamool Congress had won four wards while trailing in two others.“Then suddenly Suvendu Adhikari arrived. He said, “We’ve crossed 200 seats. All of you get out. There is nothing left for you to do. There will be no more counting,'” she alleged in the video. Priyadarshini claimed that Election Commission officials appealed for the counting to continue peacefully but were unable to control the situation as BJP workers allegedly created chaos inside the hall.She alleged that around the 15th and 16th rounds, Trinamool counting agent Bablu Singh was physically lifted and thrown out of the counting centre, while several other opposition counting agents were also forcibly removed.Sitting next to Hakim was a woman counting agent representing the Congress. “She turned to me and said, ‘I’m leaving,’ and walked away,” Priyadarshini recalled.She further alleged that the BJP’s chief counting agent approached her with an offer.“He told me, ‘Didi, we respect you. You don’t have to leave. You can remain seated. But during the 16th and 17th rounds, you will write down only the figures that I tell you.’ I replied, ‘I would rather die than do that.'”Priyadarshini also alleged that BJP workers began abusing her with communal slurs, calling her “Bangladeshi” and “Pakistani”, before pushing her off her chair.West Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari visiting a polling station in his constituency during the second and final phase of the state Assembly elections, in Kolkata, Wednesday, April 29, 2026.She claimed that when opposition counting documents were being snatched away and torn apart, she hid one of the documents inside her blouse in an attempt to preserve it.“They put their hands inside my blouse, pulled out the paper, grabbed me by my hair and dragged me out,” she alleged.According to Hakim, Mamata Banerjee arrived at the counting centre shortly afterwards. She claimed Election Commission officials assured her that new identity cards would be issued to counting agents whose accreditation cards had allegedly been torn up. But this, she said, didn’t happen.Hakim further alleged that she then noticed Electronic Voting Machines being taken from the second floor, where counting was underway, to the ground floor.“Didi (Mamata Banerjee), a few remaining counting agents and I followed the EVMs downstairs. We asked why they had been moved. Suddenly Election Commission officials arrived. They stopped us from going back upstairs. The CRPF also prevented us from entering,” she said.According to her, Rounds 16 to 19 were counted without any opposition counting agents present inside the hall.“Inside were only Suvendu Adhikari, BJP counting agents, Election Commission officials and the CRPF,” she alleged.Priyadarshini’s account gains significance because it is not the only testimony describing a similar sequence of events.The Congress counting agent seated beside her that day, Archana Prakash, independently recounted many of the same developments when contacted by The Wire.Archana, who said it was her first experience as a counting agent, described the day as one she would never forget.“The counting was moving unusually slowly. Whether there were genuine technical reasons or whether it was being deliberately slowed down, I cannot say. But until around the 15th round, Mamata Banerjee was leading,” she said.She recalled seeing Suvendu Adhikari enter the counting hall twice.“The first time he stood at the back for a while and left. When he returned, he told everyone: ‘Move out. Leave this place. We’ve crossed 200 seats. There is nothing more to do. The counting should stop.'”Archana said she was unsure how to react.“It was my first time as a counting agent. I thought the more experienced Congress agents in other sections would know what to do. I decided I would leave only if they left.”Instead, she said, several physically imposing BJP workers began pressuring opposition agents to vacate the hall.“They behaved in an extremely abusive and intimidating manner. Other Congress colleagues gestured to me that I should leave because this was not our fight.”Before leaving, Archana said she turned to Priyadarshini Hakim.“I asked her, ‘Are you leaving?’ She replied, ‘No. Didi has instructed us that whatever happens, we must remain inside until the counting is over.'”Archana said she feared Priyadarshini might be physically assaulted.“I didn’t want a woman to be manhandled. I never imagined such things could happen inside a counting centre.”Security forces deployed outside the counting centre at Bhabanipur constituency following the allegations of EVM tampering ahead of the result declaration of the West Bengal Assembly elections, in Kolkata, Friday, May 1, 2026. Photo: PTI.Witnesses describe a similar sequence of eventsArchana Prakash said she ultimately left the counting hall under pressure. Owing to her short height, she said she was largely shielded behind CRPF personnel as she made her way out.“While leaving, an Election Commission official, who had earlier been announcing the counting results over the microphone, was heard telling the CRPF personnel, ‘Just give them a mild scolding’,” she claimed.The Wire has reached out to the Bengal CEO’s office for its version of this.A day before counting, both Mamata Banerjee and her nephew Abhishek Banerjee had issued separate video messages to party counting agents, warning them not to leave counting centres under any circumstances.The Congress’ Bhabanipur candidate, Pradip Prasad, also told The Wire that opposition counting agents were forced out after Suvendu Adhikari entered the counting centre.“We had around 20 Congress counting agents. After Suvendu Adhikari entered the hall, both Congress and Trinamool counting agents were driven out,” Prasad said.Arka Dyuti, a young counting agent representing SUCI(C), said that he noticed unusual behaviour.“From the moment we entered the counting hall, the CRPF personnel and Election Commission officials were behaving strangely. They were looking at the colour of the lanyards around our necks and treating representatives of every party except the BJP badly.“I’ve been a counting agent several times before, but I’ve never seen them behave like this. And I saw what happened afterwards too – how opposition counting agents were made to leave the hall and how the counting was conducted towards the end.”A CPI(M) counting agent, who requested anonymity because the matter is now before the courts, independently corroborated the same sequence of events.He also said that Suvendu Adhikari entered the counting hall and announced that the BJP had crossed the 200-seat mark, telling opposition agents there was no point remaining inside. He alleged that opposition representatives were subsequently pressured into leaving the hall.CPI(M)’s Bhabanipur candidate Shrijeeb Biswas declined to comment on the allegations in detail, saying that since the matter is sub judice, he would place all relevant facts before the court, if required.Another Trinamool counting agent, Debabrata Roy, who was deployed for postal ballot counting, also described what he claimed took place that afternoon.“We had completed counting the postal ballots, and the Trinamool Congress was actually ahead by around 50 votes in the postal ballots,” Roy said.“We were being forced to sign on a result we did not accept. We refused.”Roy claimed that after around the 16th round, opposition counting agents began to be physically removed from the premises. “Their main target was our identity cards. They were snatching and tearing them up. Some of us hid our ID cards in secret places, so they couldn’t take ours.”According to Roy, one opposition counting agent was physically carried out after Suvendu Adhikari arrived, while he himself was pushed down the staircase. Roy also claimed that many of the BJP workers involved in the alleged assault were not local residents but appeared to be from “Odisha and Siliguri.”He said Mamata Banerjee reached the counting centre roughly 45 minutes after Suvendu Adhikari.“We tried to go upstairs along with her, but we were stopped. Only she was allowed to go inside. After some time, she too came back out.”West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC candidate for Bhabanipur constituency, Mamata Banerjee departs as she shows an image of the strong room during her visit to a counting centre within her constituency ahead of the result declaration of state Assembly elections, in Kolkata, Friday, May 1, 2026. Photo: PTI.Roy also questioned the final result by referring to two wards where counting, according to him, remained pending during the disputed phase.“Ward 82 is Bobby Hakim’s ward and Ward 73 is Mamata Banerjee’s own ward. We have never lost these wards. We still cannot reconcile how Mamata Banerjee’s lead disappeared and how Suvendu Adhikari eventually won by over 15,000 votes.”Roy and Priyadarshini Hakim have both highlighted the importance of CCTV recordings. Although the latter has noted in her video message that she noticed that the red recording lights on the CCTV cameras “were no longer blinking” after a point.“I would request that the CCTV footage from 1 pm to 7 pm be made public so everyone can see what happened inside Sakhawat Memorial School, including what happened to a woman chief minister,” she said.The BJP’s counting agent, Rabindra Chowdhury, told The Wire:“BJP never engages in violence. Seeing that the TMC was going to lose, its members were leaving the counting hall on their own. I was asking them to stay and telling them to leave only after the counting was over. We were once in the opposition too. Back then, they had attacked and abused us. So, realising that they were losing, they were leaving on their own out of fear.”This is not the first time that allegations surrounding the counting process have reached the Calcutta high court.Following the 2021 assembly elections, Mamata Banerjee had challenged her defeat in Nandigram to Adhikari, alleging irregularities and manipulation during the counting process. That election petition remains pending before the Calcutta high court.In the present Bhabanipur case, Banerjee’s petition also alleges administrative bias. Among other claims, it argues that the Returning Officer appointed for Bhabanipur, Surajit Roy, had previously served in Nandigram under controversial circumstances during the 2021 elections and was later appointed to the Chief Minister’s Office without obtaining the requisite state government clearance.In the months since the BJP came to power in Bengal, several leaders once regarded as close to Mamata Banerjee have distanced themselves from her politically. One of them is former Kolkata Mayor Firhad (Bobby) Hakim, the father of Priyadarshini Hakim.Whether Priyadarshini Hakim continues to stand by the detailed allegations she made in her video statement on May 4 could not be verified. Hakim was unreachable.For our full coverage on the SIR and the issues it has brought to citizens, click here.