TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, who is also seeking election from the Diamond Harbour seat, held an online meeting with party leaders on Sunday night and laid out a multi-pronged strategy for its counting agents.

Sources in the party said the move was aimed at boosting the morale of party workers ahead of counting following the exit polls, which showed the BJP winning 23 to 27 seats in West Bengal.

“We all know what happened in Nandigram. The counting agents left before the counting of votes from four EVMs was completed. So, this time, the agents must stay inside the counting hall until the last EVM is counted. They need to check all necessary documents and demand the counting of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail slips in case of any doubt,” said a party leader.

In the 2021 Assembly polls, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had lost the election from Nandigram by a margin of 1,956 votes.

However, the TMC had alleged that there were irregularities in the counting process and the counting agents had left the hall before the process was complete.

The party has asked senior leaders to supervise the counting process for each of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state with a special focus on 20 seats where a close fight is anticipated.

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