BJP candidate Debangshu Panda’s big victory in Falta, TMC bail forfeited!

The results of re-polling in Falta assembly seat of West Bengal were declared on Sunday. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Debangshu Panda was declared victorious by a huge margin of 1,09,021 votes, while TMC got its deposit forfeited.

Panda polled a total of 1,49,666 votes, while CPI(M) candidate Shambhunath Kurmi came second with 40,645 votes. Congress candidate Abdur Razzaq came third with 10,084 votes, while Trinamool Congress candidate Jahangir Khan came fourth with 7,783 votes. The deposits of both Congress and Trinamool Congress candidates were forfeited.

The results of the re-polling in Falta are unique in two ways. This is the first time in history since the establishment of Trinamool Congress in January 1988 that a party candidate has got the fourth position.

This is the first time since 2011, when 34 years of Left Front rule ended and Trinamool Congress rule began, that a party candidate’s deposit has been forfeited.

Re-polling in Falta was held on 21 May. With Panda’s victory, BJP’s total seats in the West Bengal Assembly have now reached 208 out of 294 seats. Sunday’s trend was a stark contrast to Falta’s results. Be it the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections or the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

In the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, Trinamool Congress’ Shankar Kumar won from Naskar Falta by a margin of 41,000 votes. Falta is one of the seven assembly seats under the Diamond Harbor Lok Sabha constituency.

Trinamool Congress general secretary and Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee has been a three-time representative from the Diamond Harbor seat. Falta assembly constituency gave Banerjee a lead of around 1,20,000 votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Voting for Falta assembly constituency in the second phase of the recently concluded two-phase assembly elections in the state was held on April 29, but was canceled after several complaints of election rigging were received. It was alleged that at many polling stations, EVM buttons bearing names and symbols of BJP candidates were covered with white tape.

Subsequently, Special Election Observer Subrata Gupta personally visited Falta and investigated. Based on Gupta’s investigation, the Election Commission of India (ECI) ordered re-polling in the entire Falta assembly constituency.