Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of West Bengal, alleged that electronic voting machines were rigged and voters were deleted from electoral lists.
These accusations challenge the legitimacy of the election results following the swearing-in of Suvendu Adhikari as chief minister on May 30, 2024. The claims suggest a coordinated effort by state and federal actors to manipulate the democratic process in one of India's most politically volatile regions.
Banerjee said that the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise was used to remove lakhs of people [1] from the electoral list. This claim was echoed by TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee, who said the SIR exercise removed lakhs of people from the list [3].
Speaking at a counting centre in Kolkata, Banerjee said that BJP workers and CRPF personnel entered the counting centre. She said they are winning by looting votes, and leaving people out of the electoral list [2].
Banerjee further alleged that the counting process was compromised by digital interference. She said EVMs were rigged during counting and votes were looted, adding that there are reports of data hacking from the Central Election Commission office [1].
These events occurred during the vote counting process on Saturday, May 31, 2024, the day after the oath ceremony for Suvendu Adhikari [4]. The allegations center on the belief that the SIR exercise served as a tool for voter suppression to secure a victory for the BJP [5].
“EVMs were rigged during counting and votes were looted.”
The allegations by the TMC leadership target the structural integrity of the Election Commission's voter revision process and the security of EVMs. By claiming that paramilitary forces and political workers interfered in the counting centers, Banerjee is framing the election result not as a democratic shift, but as a systemic failure of electoral safeguards.
