South 24 Paragnas, 01 May (H.S.): Concerns over the safety of EVMs have intensified in Canning after a sudden power outage at the strong room located in Bankim Sardar College triggered political tension late Thursday evening.

EVMs from four Assembly constituencies—Gosaba, Basanti, Canning Paschim and Canning Purba—are stored in the strong room at the college.

According to sources, around 8:40 pm the entire campus of the college plunged into darkness due to a sudden power cut. Allegedly, one of the two CCTV monitors installed to keep watch over the strong room stopped functioning immediately after the outage. Agents of various political parties, who had been monitoring the live feed from outside, raised alarm as the disruption became known.

The incident sparked tension between workers of the Trinamool Congress and the BJP, with both sides expressing concern over the security of the EVMs. Questions were also raised about why the backup generator did not start immediately.

No official explanation has yet been issued by the administration regarding the cause of the power failure or the CCTV malfunction. The incident, which occurred under the cover of darkness, has triggered significant political concern in the area.

BJP candidate from Gosaba, Bikarna Naskar, alleged, “Cameras are going off repeatedly. After Paresh Ram Das entered, the lights went out. Our representatives outside could not see anything on the monitors. I have informed the Returning Officer and have emailed the Election Commission seeking urgent action.”

Meanwhile, Trinamool candidate Paresh Ram Das also expressed concern, saying, “As soon as I arrived, the power went off. The generator started only after about 20 minutes. During that time, everything was in darkness and the CCTV feed was either off or unclear. We fear that this could be part of a conspiracy, and we have demanded a probe by the Commission.”

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey