New Delhi: BJP candidate Debangshu Panda has won the Falta assembly repoll on Sunday by a margin of one lakh votes. He turned the constituency, once seen
as a stronghold of TMC’s organisational muscle, into the site of a political reversal that could resonate far beyond South 24 Parganas.
Overall, Panda polled 109021 votes, leading the Communist Party of India (Marxist)’s Sambhu Nath Kurmi, who secured 40645 votes. Indian National Congress candidate Abdur Razzak Molla stood third with 10084 votes.
However, TMC nominee Jahangir Khan, who was once among the most talked-about faces of the Falta campaign, slipped to fourth spot with just 5,319 votes.
‘Diamond Harbour model turned Loss-bar model’
What was once projected by the TMC as the invincible “Diamond Harbour model” appeared to be unravelling on Sunday, as described by CM Suvendu. In a post on X, he said, “The notorious ‘Diamond Harbour’ model has turned into the ‘Trinamool’s Loss-Bar’ model!!! First of all, I bow my head in salutation to the people of Falta—the divine populace-who, with an overwhelming mandate, sent Shri Debangshu Pandya, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, to the Assembly in the bye-election for the Falta constituency. I am especially grateful to Falta’s voters; I had appealed to them to secure victory for BJP’s candidate by a margin of one lakh votes, and the winning margin has surpassed one lakh eight thousand. Through development, we shall repay this debt to you. We are committed to building a golden Falta.”
He added, “A party devoid of principles or ideals, which had morphed into a mafia syndicate, has had its skeletal state laid bare upon losing power. By abusing state machinery, this lot plundered public funds, extorted people’s hard-earned money, and through syndicates and a culture of threats, its leaders treated the nation as their private fiefdom.”
The Falta repoll has turned a local contest into a broader political statement just days after it ended the TMC’s 15-year reign and scripted a historical change in West Bengal.
Why Falta had to undergo repoll?
Traditionally, TMC had strong control over the Falta seat since the party came to power in West Bengal back in 2011. Multiple complaints were filed claiming suspected attempts to tamper with EVMs and reports of suspicious substances found at various polling stations.
After which the Election Commission of India ordered fresh polling across all 285 booths in Falta following the irregularities allegations during the final voting on April 29.
Following the electoral setback, there were speculations that the TMC would make aggressive efforts to win its cadre base. However, neither senior party leaders nor Mamata Banerjee campaigned for their candidate, Jahangir Khan.
Khan grabbed the headlines as he openly challenged the poll observer, IPS officer Ajay Pal Sharma and said, “If he is Singham, then I am Pushpa” after he visited his residence before polling.
The swagger didn’t convert into votes, and BJP’s Debangshu Panda won the election, turning the political script in the constituency.
