Overview
- During Wednesday's Phase-2 voting in West Bengal, clashes and vandalism disrupted polling across Nadia, Panihati, North and South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Bhabanipur.
- The Chief Electoral Officer said any booth where tape or coverings were found on electronic voting machines will face a re-poll, and a full-constituency re-run is possible if such breaches are widespread.
- The BJP alleged taped-over buttons and other interference at Falta in Diamond Harbour, while separate complaints described glue on a candidate’s button in Minakhan and reports of so-called dummy machines near booths.
- Election authorities deployed more than 230,000 central paramilitary personnel and tens of thousands of state police, and they reported thousands of preventive detentions and hundreds of non-bailable warrants in the 72 hours before the vote.
- A petition filed overnight to the Supreme Court sought the removal of observer Ajay Pal Sharma for alleged bias, with counting set for May 4.