On first glimpse, it was hard to spot anything unusual with the video footage coming out of TMC offices in Falta and elsewhere after the West Bengal elections. It showed stacks of white saris. Hundreds
of them.
But then, the state carries a million fresh and old wounds and memories. It immediately realised something chilling was afoot.
Many Hindu widows still follow the tradition of wearing white sari. So, TMC was sending a sinister message: If we come to power, wives of those who supported the BJP would be widowed.
The naked threat is neither new nor empty. It has been Sheikh Shahjahan and Jahangir Khan’s grim signature in South 24 Parganas. Before the elections, Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee himself threatened voters of consequences. He used the same language. He said Jahangir has requested him to build an electric crematorium in Falta and he would certainly oblige, hinting at gratuitous post-poll violence if TMC had won.
So, after Trinamool fell flat in Falta Assembly constituency (No. 144), part of Abhishek Banerjee’s Diamond Harbour Model of savage misgovernance and Lok Sabha bastion, it is difficult not to compare it with the vanquishing of evil by Devi Durga in ‘Akal Bodhan’ or ‘untimely awakening’.
Sunday’s re-poll results signalled the fall of ‘syndicate raj’ — a venomous mix of muscle, cut-money, smuggling networks, and political intimidation — which defined TMC’s control over the Sundarbans-adjacent region. The seat’s significance goes far beyond its 2.36 lakh voters.
Falta is located in a strategic zone. It is industrially relevant, although more than three-fourth of companies have apparently fled Falta SEZ because of political extortion. It is also agriculturally rich.
One of the salient aspects of the BJP’s Devangshu Panda’s massive victory in Falta by 1,09,021 votes is the seat’s demographic mix. Falta has 33 per cent Muslims, and the BJP has got 71 per cent votes. So, there is a big possibility that a notable chunk of Muslims voted for the BJP as well.
Also, scheduled castes like Namashudras, Matuas, and Mandals – who are over 25 per cent – have voted saffron en bloc. Overall Hindu consolidation behind the BJP has likely been more than 90 per cent. The BJP’s victory validates its micro-engineering success among SCs (especially Matuas), non-dominant OBCs, and everyone tired of cut-money culture. It shows the party’s ability to expand in the once impenetrable southern Bengal’s rural and semi-urban belts.
The constituency overcame the dread which kept opposition voters away for 15 years and opted for an 88 per cent turnout. It was a psychological breakaway from the old order. The heavy presence of central forces and a festive atmosphere testified to the collapse of the old ecosystem of intimidation.
In previous elections, votes would be stopped at the gate and the BJP button would be covered with tape, say locals. In fact, the 2026 re-poll was ordered for all 285 booths on May 21 after serious irregularities including EVM tampering and camera manipulation on April 29.
A BJP win in Abhishek Banerjee’s backyard is a crippling blow to the TMC’s psyche. No syndicate territory is safe or untouchable.
It also heralds the end of strongman politics, with local TMC goon Jahangir Khan, who compared himself to the movie don ‘Pushpa’, chickened out of the re-poll race. With the TMC wiped out, a large section of Muslim voters fully shifted to the CPI(M) in Falta. It could signal a flicker of revival for communists in West Bengal, which they ruled (or misruled) for 34 long years.
Falta is not just another constituency. In it will now lie the epitaph of an old, discredited political model. What the BJP does with the new dawn will define the trajectory of West Bengal.
Abhijit Majumder is the author of the book ‘India’s New Right’. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
