India, May 1 -- Amid protests by TMC leaders over alleged tampering in West Bengal Assembly elections, State Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal clarified that "no CCTV cameras were switched off at the strong rooms. "

He said live footage from all eight strong rooms, including seven housing EVMs and one for postal ballots, was being continuously telecast, and representatives of political parties were allowed to monitor it from beyond the three-layer security.

Addressing concerns about activity seen around 4 pm, Agarwal explained that officials had opened the postal ballot strong room as per rules, with prior intimation given to all candidates and parties by the Returning Officer. "As per rule, all political parties were informed...