New Delhi: A day after the second phase of polling in West Bengal, tensions between the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) escalated on Thursday (April 30) night amid allegations of EVM tampering ahead of the counting of votes on May 4. While the TMC alleged “murder of democracy”, with chief minister Mamata Banerjee visiting the site and alleged that officers were being “pressured”, the ECI said that postal ballots were segregated according to rules in the presence of political parties. Amid the high drama, chief minister Mamata Banerjee reached the spot and then the counting centre for the Bhabanipur Assembly segment at Sakhawat Memorial School in Kolkata and remained there till after midnight. “We saw on the CCTV footage at Netaji Indoor Stadium and outsiders have come. When I saw this on television I decided to come and see myself. When I arrived here, the central forces didn’t allow me to enter. According to the rules, the candidate and election agent of any party is allowed up to the sealed room, not inside the sealed room. I then took permission from the RO and was allowed to enter,” Banerjee told reporters after midnight.“I have said before that this is not the time to quarrel – this is not the place for that. The state police is not working under us; they are under the Election Commission from the day elections were announced. Some superpower is working and pressuring them.”Earlier the TMC had alleged that BJP in collusion with the ECI was opening ballot boxes at Netaji Indoor Stadium, without the presence of election agents of parties. In a post on X, the TMC shared footage and alleged that the BJP in collusion with the BJP is “opening ballot boxes without the presence of any relevant party stakeholders. This is gross electoral fraud being committed openly with the full knowledge and protection of the Election Commission.”❗️ALARMING❗️This is the murder of democracy in broad daylight.CCTV footage has exposed how @BJP4India, in active collusion with the @ECISVEEP, is opening ballot boxes without the presence of any relevant party stakeholders. This is gross electoral fraud being committed openly… pic.twitter.com/aSe36kGKPI— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) April 30, 2026TMC leaders Kunal Ghosh and Shashi Panja, who reached the site soon after, sat on a dharna at the Khudiram Anushilan Kendra near Netaji Indoor Stadium. Ghosh said that they were not being allowed inside and were told that postal ballots were being segregated. BJP candidate Tapas Roy also reached the site and accused the TMC of spreading rumours.“This is just a rumour, nothing else. This cannot be done. They are making such claims because they are going to lose, that is why they are spreading rumours,” he said.“There are three layer security arrangements in place, as far as I know, and this is nothing new. They can stay there and watch from a certain distance; everything is allowed by the Election Commission. But the way they are spreading rumours is not correct.”In a series of posts on X on Thursday night the TMC alleged that the BJP and the “compromised” ECI did not know who they are dealing with.“They have imported operatives from other states to swarm the area outside the Netaji Indoor Stadium, staging a media spectacle to mask their fear. We do not need to mobilize. At one command from Smt. @MamataOfficial, 10,000 people would descend upon that area in minutes,” the party said in a post.West Bengal CEO Manoj Kumar Agarwal also addressed a press conference on Thursday night amid the high drama and said that postal ballots were being opened according to rules and all political parties had been informed.“No CCTV was turned off. CCTV footage of all 8 strong rooms there, 7 of EVMs and 1 of postal ballot, is being telecast. Political parties’ people can sit beyond the three-layer security and see this. They saw some movement around 4 pm when our staff was opening the postal ballot room as per rules. As per rule, all political parties were informed, all candidates were informed by the RO (Returning Officer). They should have come there…After 4 pm, 3 candidates had come and they saw everything that the EVMs’ strong rooms were sealed while the postal ballot’s strong room was open. The 3 then left,” said Agarwal.The ECI has earlier said in a statement that there are seven assembly constituency strongrooms inside the Anushilan Kendra which were duly closed and sealed in the presence of Candidates/Election agents and General Observer after completion of poll on Wednesday (April 29).“All strong rooms containing polled EVMs are safely secured and sealed. There is another strong room in the same premise for Postal ballot wherein we have kept AC wise polled ballots as done by different polling personnel and ETBPS. We had notified all Observers, ROs and requested ROs to inform their candidates and agents about this. ROs informed the political parties by mail. The segregation of the ballot was taking place in the corridor of strong rooms containing polled premise from 4pm. The main strong rooms are safely secured and locked,” the poll body said and added that this was shown to the TMC’s Ghosh and Panja as well as to the BJP.In a separate post BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari who is contesting against Banerjee from Bhabanipur said the chief minister had been “strictly instructed to refrain from availing any undue advantages.”“No matter how much effort she makes, she has been unable to engage in any activities outside the rules,” he said.