Two Public Interest Litigations (PILs) have been filed in the Calcutta High Court concerning the counting of votes for the West Bengal Assembly elections. Advocate Kalyan Banerjee, a Trinamool Congress MP, challenged the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) decision to appoint only Central government employees as supervisors at counting centres, urging judicial intervention. Lawyer Biswaroop Bhattacharya separately questioned the sudden change of counting centres. Justice Krishna Rao has allowed both cases to be filed, with hearings expected later in the day. The counting of votes is scheduled for May 4, following two peaceful phases of polling on April 23 and April 29, which recorded a record turnout of 92.85%.
The ECI has reduced the number of counting centres this year to 87 for 294 seats, compared to 90 in 2016 and 108 in 2021. To safeguard the process, 200 companies of Central security forces have been deployed to guard strong rooms storing EVMs, while 500 companies will remain in West Bengal after May 4 to prevent post‑poll violence. The Commission has already released the list of districts where counting will take place. These developments highlight heightened scrutiny over the conduct of vote counting, with concerns raised about transparency, security, and administrative decisions ahead of the crucial May 4 tally.