The BJP has organised special sessions for counting agents of each of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in Bengal to teach them how to monitor the counting process till the final results are out and prevent unauthorised interventions.

“We learnt a lesson from the 2021 Assembly polls when many of our counting agents had no experience. This time, we tried to appoint only those experienced in the field as the counting agents. During the special training, they were told about different issues they could face inside the counting hall and the persons entitled to be there,” said a senior BJP leader.

A source said there were 22 points which were extensively discussed at training sessions. The counting agents were advised to follow all those things during the counting.

In the training sessions, the counting agents were asked to match the votes polled on the EVM with Form 17C. Form 17C carries comprehensive information, including the number of total voters, polled votes and EVM number.

A copy of the form was provided to each polling agent after the completion of the voting.

“They (counting agents) have been asked to note down all data, including the number of votes obtained by each candidate and NOTA, and match whether the sum of those numbers is equal to the total polled votes. The counting agents were taught a dozen of such points in the training sessions,” said a BJP leader.

“In 2021, we received complaints that many unauthorised persons entered the counting venue and started threatening our counting agents once the trend
indicated that the Trinamool Congress was going to
sweep. This time, we have alerted our counting agents as the TMC can attempt to adopt the same strategy,” said a BJP leader.

Suvendu Adhikari, the leader of the Opposition, alleged that the directorate
of security was planning
to deploy one police officer
and two constables in plain clothes inside the counting venue of each of the 42 Lok Sabha seats. He asked the Election Commission to prevent those “unauthorised entries” which could be the TMC’s ploy to disturb the counting process.

“The respective DMs, who are also the ROs (Returning Officers), are being pressurized to issue Identity Cards for these people, so that they can access the Counting Centers. If the Directorate of Security goes ahead with this plan as per the instructions of Mamata Banerjee, then I would be forced to reveal their personal details in the public domain. @ECISVEEP & @CEOWestBengal should ensure that no unauthorized person is allowed to enter the Counting Centers,” Adhikari wrote on his ‘X’ social media handle.

In Cooch Behar, the BJP has introduced a special dress code — a white T-shirt with a saffron collar — for its counting agents.

A source said the “uniform” was an idea of the BJP’s Cooch Behar Lok Sabha candidate Nisith Pramanik.

“We believe the dress code will boost the morale of the counting agents inside the counting hall. It would be easy for one agent to identify the other of the party in the counting hall,” said a BJP leader in Cooch Behar.

BJP Rajya Sabha member Samik Bhattacharya claimed that as the party would sweep in Bengal this time, there was no question of counting agents leaving the venue.

“We have given proper training to the counting agents. There is no question of them leaving the venue till the counting is over this time as our workers know that the party will win most seats,” said Bhattacharya.

On Monday, senior BJP leader Sisir Bajoria wrote to the chief electoral officer of Bengal to stop engaging contractual or non-permanent government employees in the counting of votes.