Senior Trinamool Congress leaders Firhad Hakim, Dr. Shashi Panja and Ashim Basu have written to the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal, raising what they called “serious concern regarding intermittent CCTV disruptions in strong rooms” and seeking immediate access to complete surveillance records.
In the communication, the leaders said they were registering a “strong objection regarding repeated disruptions in CCTV surveillance at designated strong rooms,” which store polled EVMs and VVPATs.
“It has been reliably reported that CCTV systems at multiple strong room locations are going off intermittently, compromising continuous monitoring,” the letter stated, citing reports from Kolkata and Jalpaiguri where “disruptions and inconsistencies in CCTV monitoring” were observed during sensitive periods.
The letter also pointed to specific instances. In Gaighata Assembly Constituency, “the camera feed is being disrupted frequently; a complaint has already been raised with the Observer.” At Haripal, located in Chandannagar Government College, CCTV was “repeatedly switching on and off, making visibility unreliable.”
Multiple constituencies cited
Similar issues were reported from Sagardighi, Rampurhat and Ghatal strong rooms, along with several other Assembly Constituencies, including Ausgram, Arambagh, Nalhati, Egra, Salboni, Tamluk and Patashpur.
The leaders said such interruptions “directly violate the guidelines of the Election Commission of India, which mandates 24×7 uninterrupted CCTV surveillance of strong rooms, with continuous recording and access for authorised stakeholders.”
Today, our delegation met @CEOWestBengal and registered a strong objection regarding the repeated and highly suspicious disruptions in CCTV surveillance at multiple strong rooms where polled EVMs and VVPATs are stored.
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) May 1, 2026
This is a direct and deliberate violation of @ECISVEEP own… pic.twitter.com/AfVKrtSHR6
Demands for footage and accountability
Seeking urgent action, the letter demanded that authorities “immediately collate all instances of CCTV malfunction, disruption, or downtime across all strong rooms in the state” and “provide complete CCTV recordings, including uninterrupted footage and logs showing periods of downtime or interruption.”
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It further called on officials to “ensure all CCTV systems are restored to full, uninterrupted functionality with real-time monitoring” and to guarantee access to surveillance for authorised representatives.
The leaders added that “any failure to preserve, secure, and furnish complete CCTV records, including periods of disruption, may invite adverse inference concerning the integrity of the strong room monitoring process.”
Calling for immediate intervention, the letter warned that delays in restoring uninterrupted surveillance and sharing records would “only intensify existing concerns and further undermine already fragile public trust.”
