Bengal election 2026 LIVE: ‘Hardly matters if nominee is from Centre’, says SC, upholds EC order on counting personnel

WEst Bengal election 2026 unrecorded: The sublime margaret court on sabbatum said that the Election direction’s circular on deploying central government staff as counting supervisors is “not contrary to rules,” as it heard TMC's plea raising concerns over the move.Meanwhile, over 16% voter turnout was recorded till 9 am in Magrahat Paschim and Diamond Harbour amid repolling.Meanwhile, voting is underway on Saturday at 15 booths in two assembly constituencies in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, Magrahat Paschim and Diamond Harbour, where the Election Commission ordered repolls a day earlier after reports of electoral malpractice.Repolling began at 7 am on Saturday at 15 polling stations in two assembly constituencies of West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district. This comes after reports of Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) tampering during the second phase of polling on Wednesday.The repolling is being conducted at 11 booths in the Magrahat Paschim Assembly constituency and four booths in the Diamond Harbour Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas on May 2.“Repolls have been ordered in 11 polling stations in the Magrahat Paschim Assembly seat and four polling stations in the Diamond Harbour Assembly constituency. We are still awaiting reports regarding the complaints from the Falta Assembly seat,” said a senior official of the poll panel in Kolkata.EVM tampering complaintsThe ECI had received at least 77 complaints linked to EVM tampering during the second phase of the West Bengal elections.Officials said that in some cases, the buttons of a political party on EVMs were covered with adhesive tape or darkened with ink, stopping voters from casting their votes. In some cases, attar was applied to the buttons so that anyone pressing them could be identified by rival parties.BJP demanded a repollThe Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded a repoll, alleging that the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) was behind the tampering.The repolling follows claims by Amit Malviya, head of the BJP’s IT cell, who said voters were prevented from voting for the party candidate at several polling booths in Falta under the Diamond Harbour constituency during phase two of the state assembly elections.On polling day, West Bengal chief electoral officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal said polling booths where any EVM button was found taped would face repolling, after the BJP raised allegations of irregularities in Falta under the Diamond Harbour constituency.