Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party over the recently concluded West Bengal Assembly elections, alleging manipulation in the electoral process and demanding greater transparency during vote counting.
Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, Yadav remarked, “It’s not a ‘Matgarna’ (counting of votes), it’s ‘Mangarna’,” accusing the BJP of engineering election outcomes and shaping public perception even before the counting process concludes.
The Samajwadi Party leader urged the Supreme Court to intervene and ensure live telecast of vote counting in West Bengal. He argued that if court proceedings can be broadcast live, then the public should also be allowed to watch the counting of votes in real time.
“Our demand is that the Supreme Court should immediately take cognisance and make the CCTV footage of Bengal vote counting available live to the whole country,” Yadav said, alleging that transparency in elections is essential to protect democracy.
Yadav also claimed that the BJP has repeatedly used administrative machinery and central forces to influence election results in different states. Referring to the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, he alleged that opposition party workers were removed from polling and counting centres in several constituencies, allowing manipulation during the counting process.
He further alleged that officials linked to Uttar Pradesh had been deployed in West Bengal and accused them of “damaging democracy.” According to Yadav, the BJP’s electoral strategies during recent elections have raised serious concerns among opposition parties regarding the fairness of the democratic process.
The remarks come at a time when political tensions remain high in West Bengal following the BJP’s sweeping victory in the 2026 Assembly elections. The party won 207 seats, ending the 15-year rule of the All India Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee.
Yadav’s comments have intensified the broader opposition narrative questioning the transparency of electoral procedures, particularly the counting process and voter verification exercises conducted ahead of the Bengal polls.
