Falta Election Result Winner: BJP’s Debangshu Panda wins by over 1 lakh votes, CPM finishes second

Falta Election Result Winner: While Panda secured a total of 1,49,666 votes, CPI(M) candidate Sambhunath Kurmi came in the second position, securing a total of 40,645 votes.

Falta Election Result Winner: The results of the Falta Assembly repoll in West Bengal have been declared after the completion of all the rounds of counting on Sunday, with BJP candidate Debangshu Panda securing a massive victory by a margin of 1,09,021 votes.

While Debangshu Panda secured 1,49,666 votes, CPI(M) candidate Sambhunath Kurmi finished second with 40,645 votes.

Congress candidate Abdur Razzak came third after polling 10,084 votes, while Trinamool Congress nominee Jahangir Khan ended fourth with 7,783 votes.

The security deposits of both the Congress and Trinamool Congress candidates were forfeited.

The Falta repoll results are significant for two key reasons. For the first time since the Trinamool Congress was founded in January 1998, a party candidate has finished in fourth place in an election.

Secondly, this is the first time since 2011, which marked the end of the 34-year Left Front regime and the beginning of the Trinamool Congress’ 15-year regime, that any party candidate has had his or her deposit forfeited.

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The repoll in the Falta Assembly constituency was held on May 21.

With Debangshu Panda’s victory in Falta, the BJP’s strength in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly has risen to 208 seats. The Trinamool Congress now holds 80 seats, while the Congress and Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) have two seats each. CPI(M) and the All India Secular Front (AISF) hold one seat each.

The outcome on Sunday stands in sharp contrast to the voting trends witnessed in Falta during both the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

In the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, Trinamool Congress candidate Shankar Kumar Nashkar won the Falta seat by a margin of 41,000 votes. Falta is one of the seven Assembly segments that fall under the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency.

Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool Congress general secretary and nephew of Mamata Banerjee, has represented the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha seat three times.

During the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Falta Assembly constituency gave Banerjee a lead of nearly 1.2 lakh votes, a result that opposition parties termed a “mockery” of the electoral process.

Polling for the Falta Assembly constituency was held on April 29 during the second phase of the recently concluded two-phase Assembly elections in West Bengal.

Several allegations of electoral irregularities surfaced on polling day in Falta. At multiple booths, EVM buttons linked to BJP candidates’ names and symbols were allegedly covered with white tape. Hundreds of voters also staged protests after reportedly being prevented from casting their votes by supporters of Jahangir Khan.

Following the complaints, special poll observer Subrata Gupta, who is currently serving as an adviser to Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, visited Falta and carried out an inquiry. Based on his findings, the Election Commission of India ordered a repoll across the entire Falta Assembly constituency.

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