Mamata cautions party against BJP's attempts to tamper EVMs

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee on Monday cautioned her party workers against BJP's attempts to tamper

with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) during the Lok Sabha polls in Bengal and called for training of the party workers in handling Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines.

"They will try to manipulate EVMs and I have learnt that they will try to do so in Bengal. They have roped in an agency for this and are talking

of winning 23 seats. We will not let

this happen and will keep a strong vigil to thwart such attempts," Banerjee said, addressing the core committee meeting of her party at Nazrul Manch.

She constituted a committee under senior TMC leaders Partha Chatterjee, Dinesh Trivedi and Sougata Roy, for overseeing the training in VVPAT. "Party men who will be involved in the counting process of the Lok Sabha polls must have knowledge about VVPAT machines. The district presidents will send designated party workers and accordingly, training will be provided to them at the TMC party office in Kolkata," Banerjee said.

She made it clear that the list of candidates decided by the party should be final and there should be no grievances associated with it. "You should keep it in mind that there will be one candidate for each seat but the fight is for all. If there is discontentment of any sort regarding one or two seats after announcement of candidate list, he/she can speak directly with the party leadership. Our party will not deprive anybody who has performed well during his/her tenure as MP," she added.

Banerjee reiterated that there should be a change of guard at the Centre and the ensuing election will see the ouster of BJP at the Centre. "Let us take the pledge to remove the dictatorial Modi regime from power. When they go out of power, the truth about their financial corruption will come to light," she added.

Setting the target of 42 out of 42 seats for the Lok Sabha polls in Bengal, Banerjee said: "When I am saying we need 42 out of 42, I mean it. You have to translate that into action. Let the Left (CPI-M) do what it wants to do. Let the Congress do whatever they want in the state. There are places where last time they had conspired with the BJP together against us. Don't bother. We have worked tirelessly for the people's benefit. So there is no reason why we should not win all the seats," she maintained.