'It ain't over till its over', political parties' common advice to counting agents in Bengal

Kolkata: With the counting of votes for all the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies in West Bengal scheduled to start from Tuesday morning, a common advice has been issued to the counting agents of all the major political parties -- come what may, they should not leave the counting tables till the last vote is counted and the final tally is prepared.

The Trinamool Congress has also told all its counting agents not to go to the counting centres keeping in mind the Exit Poll projections, which gave more seats to the BJP as compared to the ruling party in the state.

Since the Exit Poll findings were released on Saturday, the ruling party leadership, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has been describing the outcomes as 'bogus' and 'prompted by the money power of BJP'.

The BJP’s state leadership, meanwhile, has advised the party's counting agents to focus entirely on the counting tables allotted to them instead of diverting their attention to the outcomes at the other tables.

“We have got information that the Trinamool might try to divert the attention of our counting agents by spreading false news about the outcomes. We have asked our counting agents not to be swayed or disheartened by any such attempts.

"Our counting agents have also been asked to only concentrate on the counting table allotted to them, even if the party candidate is trailing there,” said a state committee member of the BJP.

Meanwhile, CPI-M state Secretary Md Salim has expressed apprehension that there might be attempts such as threats to prevent their counting agents from reaching or entering the counting stations.

“If a single such incident is reported, there will be massive protests throughout the state,” Salim said.

Meanwhile, Governor C.V. Ananda Bose said on Monday that the Peace Room at the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata will be active on Tuesday so that the common people can report any event of tension or violence during the counting process.