As West Bengal braced for the counting of votes Monday in the high-stakes battle between the ruling TMC and the Opposition BJP for control of the state, the Election Commission of India Saturday ordered repolling across all 285 polling stations in the Falta Assembly constituency on May 21, and scheduled counting of votes on May 24.
This means that on Monday, results will be declared for 293 of the 294 seats in the state Assembly.
The ECI, in a release, said it was ordering fresh polls “in all the 285 polling stations, including auxiliary polling stations” of Falta constituency after considering reports of “severe electoral offences and subversion of democratic process during polling in a large number of polling stations” on April 29.
Also Saturday, repolling was held in 15 booths of two Assembly constituencies in South 24 Parganas district.
In New Delhi, the Supreme Court declined to pass any further order on a Calcutta High Court order that upheld the Election Commission’s decision to deploy Central government and PSU employees as counting supervisors and assistants for the counting of votes Monday.
Dismissing a TMC appeal challenging the April 30 order of the High Court, the bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi declined to pass any further order after EC counsel Senior Advocate D S Naidu described the TMC’s apprehensions as “completely misplaced” and said the poll body was following its April 13 circular, which also provided for inclusion of state government employees in the counting process.
“No further orders are necessary…except to reiterate the statement of Senior Advocate D S Naidu that the circular dated April 13, 2026 will be implemented in true letter and spirit,” the bench said.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the TMC, pointed out that as per the circular, which is part of the EC handbook, there had to be “random selection of state government and Central government employees” for counting duty, but only Central government employees were being deployed.
Countering this, Naidu said, “The returning officer has the overarching power and is from the state government… And everything happens under his supervision. He picks up by way of randomisation, both the counting supervisor and also the counting assistant. And we have alternated in such a way that if the first one is from the Central government, the other is from the state government and vice versa.”
“Thereafter, each candidate will have his own agents. If there are 10 tables, there will be 10 agents. They will be just watching the proceedings… It’s a completely misplaced apprehension,” he said.
At the outset, Sibal said the circular appointing Central government employees was issued to district electoral officers (DEOs) on April 13, but “we came to know of it only on April 29”. He said, “These things don’t happen. On the contrary, advance notice is given. There are meetings with the DEOs every two days. They don’t tell us anything about it.”
“They say they have an apprehension that in every booth in West Bengal, there is going to be trouble. Where do they get that apprehension from? This is shocking. They already have a Central government nominee, micro-observer. Now they want another Central government nominee, for what purpose?” Sibal said.
He said the circular itself said that a state government nominee should also be included. “They don’t appoint. Article 324 is not a wild horse,” he said. Article 324 vests the power of superintendence, direction and control of elections in the EC.
“They want another Central government nominee because they fear a possible irregularity. That’s pointing a finger at the state government,” Sibal said.
Justice Bagchi said, “All these persons, the nominees, be it of the Centre or the state, in discharge of their duties for counting, are under the control of the Election Commission. If the Commission has total control, it hardly matters whether they are state government or Central government employees.”
On the apprehension of irregularities in counting, Justice Bagchi said, “That’s a subjective satisfaction.”
Sibal questioned why the EC had not communicated the appointment of Central government employees to the state.
Justice Bagchi pointed out that a circular had already been issued and there was no need to confer with political parties.
He also said that even if the circular were to say that both the counting agent and counting supervisor were to be Central government employees, “still then, we could not have faulted them because” the relevant clause “says the pool of counting supervisor and counting agent will be from Class B and Class C… of either the state government or the Central government. So to choose from only one pool cannot be said to be incorrect. It’s within jurisdiction.”
Later, both TMC and BJP interpreted the Supreme Court decision to each’s advantage.
In a press release, the TMC said, “After hearing the parties, the Hon’ble Supreme Court directed that Clause 1 of the communication dated 13.04.2026, relating to the appointment of Counting Supervisors and Counting Assistants, must be read along with the salient feature contained in the second page of the said communication which provides for random selection of both State Government and Central Government employees.”
“It is expected that the process of counting of votes shall be conducted in a fair, transparent, and balanced manner in accordance with the directions recorded by the Hon’ble Supreme Court,” it said.
The TMC also sent a letter to the West Bengal CEO, saying “you are requested to ensure strict compliance with the said Notification dated 13.04.2026, as clarified and observed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court in its order dated 02.05.2026 upon the undertaking given by Learned Senior Advocate appearing for the ECI. The requirement of appropriate representation of State and Central Government personnel in the counting process, through the prescribed mechanism of randomisation, must be scrupulously followed in due deference to the submission made before the Hon’ble Supreme Court today.”
The BJP said the Supreme Court’s decision not to pass any further order was a setback for the TMC and a validation of the electoral process.
BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya said, “The state government is wasting the tax-payer’s money. The TMC already lost in the election. After assuming power in West Bengal, we will publish the TMC government’s expenditure on fighting cases in the Supreme Court.”
