BJP secures 637 of 656 votes at Muslim-majority booth as CPI(M) leader questions family's missing votes
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The controversy raised after the Assembly elections in West Bengal over an outcome that witnessed the BJP sweep almost all constituencies, pushing the TMC into a corner and prompting both the Congress and the TMC to suspect alleged large-scale rigging, is likely to be vindicated by an investigation by Alt News, which found that at a predominantly Muslim booth, crucial to the BJP candidate's victory, 637 of the 656 votes polled were cast in his favour.
The investigation centres on Booth 164 in Musalman Para under the Rajarhat New Town Assembly constituency, where BJP candidate and eventual winner Piyush Kanodia secured 637 votes, while TMC nominee Tapash Chatterjee managed merely five votes, and the CPI(M)-Indian Secular Front (ISF) alliance candidate Saptarshi Deb received a solitary vote.
What renders the outcome particularly perplexing is the striking contrast with neighbouring Booth 165, situated in the same locality and drawing electors from many of the same families after the original polling station was bifurcated owing to an increase in voters. There, Deb secured 299 votes, Chatterjee 290 and Kanodia only 32, presenting an electoral pattern diametrically opposed to that of Booth 164.
Alt News reported that nearly 88 per cent of the electorate in Booth 164 belongs to the Muslim community, leading several residents to question how the BJP could have secured such an overwhelming mandate in an area historically considered unfavourable to it.
Ahmed Ali Mondol, a two-time CPI(M) panchayat member, asserted that he and eight members of his family had voted for the CPI(M)-ISF alliance from Booth 164, yet the official tally credited the alliance with only one vote.
Similar doubts were voiced by local ISF leader Akhtar Ali Mollah and polling agent Ramzan Ali, both of whom claimed that numerous party workers and their families had cast ballots for the alliance.
The booth assumed decisive significance because TMC candidate Tapash Chatterjee was reportedly leading by 316 votes before the counting of Booth 164. Once its votes were added, the lead was reversed, and Kanodia emerged victorious by exactly the same margin of 316 votes.
The counting process has itself attracted scrutiny. According to Alt News, the constituency witnessed 18 rounds of counting instead of the anticipated 17 after polling agents reportedly detected that the Electronic Voting Machine at Booth 164 reflected 52 votes more than had allegedly been cast, prompting demands for verification through the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system.
Deb questioned who authorised the recount, how many rounds were recounted and why candidates were allegedly not informed adequately, describing the entire exercise as opaque.
Rejecting allegations of irregularity, Kanodia maintained that the verdict merely reflected the will of the electorate, while Alt News stated that it had sought explanations from the Election Commission of India and the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal regarding the recounting process and the concerns raised by residents and opposition leaders.
