Kolkata | BJP candidate Debangshu Panda won the Falta assembly seat on Sunday by a 1.09 lakh votes, breaching the stronghold of the Trinamool Congress, whose nominee Jahangir Khan slipped to fourth position.
Just days before the repoll, Khan announced that he would not be in the contest, a decision the TMC described as his personal. However, since withdrawn of nomination was not possible at that time, his name remained on the EVMs.
Panda secured 1,49,666 votes while CPI(M)'s Sambhu Nath Kurmi came second with 40,645 votes cast in his favour. Congress candidate Abdur Razzak Molla stood third with 10,084 votes.
Khan got 7,783 votes in the 2.36 lakh-strong constituency. The TMC had held the seat continuously since 2011 and won it in 2021 with around 57 per cent of the votes polled.
With this victory, the BJP's tally in the Election Commission records for the state polls rose to 208, although its effective Assembly strength remained unchanged with Adhikari vacating Nandigram and retaining the Bhabanipur seat.
With trends earlier in the day predicting a landslide win for the BJP, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said it was proof that "reality had come to light" when people were allowed to vote freely.
In a post on X, the chief minister said he bowed "in salutation to the people of Falta" for giving a "resounding mandate" to BJP candidate Debangshu Panda and noted that he had appealed for a victory margin of one lakh votes, a target that had been crossed.
Promising to repay the "debt through development" and build a "golden Falta", he launched a sharp attack on the Trinamool Congress, alleging that the party, during its years in power, had transformed itself into a "mafia company" that abused state machinery, looted public funds and fostered a culture of syndicates and intimidation.
Adhikari also referred to a "fraudster who parachuted in and claimed the title of commander", alleging that democracy had been throttled and asserting that the previous election had been turned into a "farce".
It is seen as an apparent reference to TMC general secretary and Diamond Harbour MP Abhishek Banerjee.
Claiming that Falta voters had regained the freedom to vote after 15 years, the chief minister said the result was "just the beginning of a larger political rejection of the TMC".
He further claimed that in future elections, the TMC leadership could face a battle even against "NOTA", arguing that people of West Bengal were waiting to witness such a contest unfold.
What was once projected by the TMC as the invincible "Diamond Harbour model" crumbled in the repoll. With the victory, the BJP converted a local contest into a larger political statement, days after ending the TMC's 15-year rule.
Until weeks ago, Falta had been described by the TMC camp as one of the symbols of its organisational dominance in the Diamond Harbour belt. The constituency witnessed aggressive political mobilisation and became central to a bitter face-off between the BJP and TMC.
Then came a sequence of developments that altered the script.
Khan, who cultivated a larger-than-life "Pushpa"-style image of defiance during the campaign and emerged as one of the most recognisable faces of the contest, dramatically announced two days before the repoll that he was stepping aside "for Falta's interest".
He cited Chief Minister Adhikari's promise of a special development package as one of the reasons behind his withdrawal. The TMC swiftly distanced itself from the announcement, terming it his "personal decision".
The constituency saw little sign of an active TMC campaign during the repoll. Party offices largely remained inactive, and Khan himself stayed away from public view. Residents said that on polling day, his residence remained locked and local party workers were conspicuous by their absence.
The BJP sharpened its attack and repeatedly claimed that the repoll would reveal what a "free election" in Falta looked like.
A local BJP leader pointed to what he termed the irony of the changing political landscape.
"From this very region, Abhishek Banerjee had secured a massive Lok Sabha lead in 2024. This election may tell a different story about what voters wanted when they could vote freely," he asserted.
The constituency had become the centre of controversy after the April 29 polling when complaints surfaced over alleged use of perfume-like substances, ink marks and adhesive tapes on EVMs at multiple booths.
Subsequent scrutiny also revealed alleged attempts to tamper with web-camera footage from polling stations, prompting the Election Commission to order a repoll in all 285 booths.
The repoll, held on May 21 under a security blanket of around 35 companies of central forces, recorded over 87 per cent turnout.
