Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee held an emergency online meeting on Sunday evening with party leaders from across Bengal where he claimed that his party would secure at least 30 out of 42 seats in the state.

He also rolled out a multi-pronged strategy to be implemented on June 4, the Lok Sabha polls counting day.

A source said the meeting was necessitated by reports indicating that the party's counting personnel might have lost morale following exit polls, which claimed a robust performance by the BJP winning 23-27 seats in the state.

"The exit poll is nothing but a BJP ploy and strategy to influence the counting in states where they are organisationally weak. I assure you that the party will secure no less than 30 seats this time. You all remember the exit polls during the 2021 Assembly elections and what the actual outcome was," a senior TMC leader quoted Abhishek as saying during the half-hour virtual meeting.

A set of TMC leaders like Saket Gokhale wrote on their social media handle differences between exit polls and actual outcome. Though TMC won 215 seats in the 2021 Lok Sabha polls, several exit polls claimed it would not cross 160 seats.

As most exit polls this time suggested that the TMC is likely to win fewer seats compared to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the TMC, especially at the district level, began losing enthusiasm for the counting.

Abhishek instructed party leaders to ensure that all polling agents are trusted party members and remain inside the counting hall until the last EVM is counted, even if the trends are negative.

The TMC's No. 2 and nephew of Mamata Banerjee reminded the party leaders of what happened in Nandigram during the Assembly polls when counting agents left the hall before the process was complete. In Nandigram, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was defeated by BJP's Suvendu Adhikari by a narrow margin of 1,956 votes and TMC leaders believed this was due to malpractice in the counting process.

"You all know what happened in Nandigram. The counting agents left before the counting of votes from four EVMs was completed. So, you must stay inside the counting hall until the last EVM is counted. You need to check all necessary documents and demand the counting of Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips in case of any doubt," a state TMC leader quoted Abhishek as saying in the meeting, which included candidates for the 42 Lok Sabha seats, their election agents, senior leaders, district presidents, heads of all 341 blocks and party MLAs.

In the meeting, Abhishek appointed senior leaders to supervise the entire counting process for each of the 42 Lok Sabha seats, with focus on 20 seats where a close fight is anticipated.

Senior leaders like Santanu Sen were appointed for Arambagh, and Joy Prakash for Midnapore. Young leaders like Rajya Sabha MP Samirul Islam and state general secretary Tanmoy Ghosh were sent to Jhargram and Purulia, respectively. In several districts, including Jalpaiguri, Bankura, and Birbhum, top district leaders have been appointed as counting supervisors by Abhishek.

"Each supervisor has been asked to reach their respective districts by Monday morning. They will conduct special meetings with the counting agents and train them on their roles inside the counting centre," said a TMC leader.

A helpline number will be available in the control room in Calcutta, and leaders have been instructed to communicate immediately if they sense anything amiss inside or outside the counting venue.

A source said that the party has information suggesting the BJP is attempting to send more people to the counting hall as agents of dummy and independent candidates to intensify its control inside. Abhishek highlighted this plan and instructed that at least 4,000 party workers gather outside the counting centers.

"Those inside the counting hall should feel the support of thousands outside. It is crucial to boost the morale of the counting agents," a leader quoted Abhishek as saying.

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya remarked that Trinamool had "understood their defeat", which is why Abhishek held the meeting on Sunday.

Repolling

The Election Commission of India has ordered repolling in two booths due to incidents of false voting: one in the Mathurapur and another in Barasat. The repolling has been ordered at booth 61 at Kadambagachi Saradar Pada F.P. School in Barasat and booth no26 at Aaddir Mahal Srichaitanya Bidyapith F.P. School in Mathurapur. According to EC sources, multiple political parties filed complaints and election observers noted irregularities in the voting processes.

As a result, the EC scheduled repolling at these two locations for Monday. Voting will be held from 7am to 6pm.