Counting begins in Bengal’s Falta; Trinamool agents absent at centre
Kolkata: Counting has begun for the Falta Assembly constituency in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district from 8 a.m. on Sunday amid tight security arrangements.
The repolling for the Assembly Constituency, as per the direction of the Election Commission of India (ECI), was conducted on May 21. There will be a total of 21 rounds of counting, and according to the insiders from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, the result will be absolutely clear by 1 p.m.
The Trinamool Congress counting agents were absent from the counting centre. The party candidate, Jahangir Khan, withdrew from the contest immediately before the repolling on May 21.
However, his staying away from voting was merely symbolic since he made the announcement just a day before the repoll and had participated in the first polling. His name continued to be active on the EVM on the repolling day.
The polling process on May 21 was absolutely peaceful. Many voters, standing in queues on that day, claimed that this was the first time that they could vote peacefully without intimidation, obstruction and fear. The polling percentage was quite high at over 88 per cent.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate in Falta is Debangshu Panda, the CPI(M) candidate is Shambhu Kurmi, and the Congress candidate is Abdur Razzak. In the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, the Trinamool Congress’ Shankar Kumar Nashkar was elected by a margin of 41,000 votes from Falta, which is one of the seven Assembly constituencies under the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency. Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool Congress’ general secretary and Mamata Banerjee’s nephew, has represented this seat three times.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the Falta Assembly constituency gave Banerjee a lead margin of around 1,20,000 votes, which opposition parties described as a mockery of the polling process.
Polling for the Falta Assembly constituency was conducted on April 29 in the second phase of the recently concluded two-phase Assembly polls in the state.
On April 29, several complaints of electoral malpractices were reported in Falta. At several polling booths, the EVM buttons corresponding to the names and symbols of BJP candidates were covered with white tape. Hundreds of voters took to the streets after they were not allowed to vote, allegedly by Jahangir Khan’s supporters.
Subsequently, special poll observer Subrata Gupta, currently serving as advisor to Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, personally visited Falta and conducted an inquiry. Based on Gupta’s findings, the Election Commission of India (ECI) ordered repolling across the entire Falta Assembly constituency.