BJP sweeps Bengal's Falta Assembly repoll by over 1 lakh votes, TMC distant fourth

BJP candidate Debangshu Panda secured a resounding victory in the Falta repoll, defeating his nearest rival by 1.09 lakh votes, the highest margin in West Bengal Assembly polls and dealing another blow to the Trinamool Congress, which suffered a rout in the elections.

In Short

• BJP's Debangshu Panda wins Falta repoll by over 1 lakh votes
• TMC's Jahangir Khan, who withdrew, was on ballot, finished fourth
• Repoll ordered due to voter intimidation and EVM irregularities during Assembly polls

BJP candidate Debangshu Panda secured a landslide victory in the Falta Assembly repoll on Sunday, defeating his nearest rival by 1.09 lakh votes, the highest margin in the West Bengal polls. On the other hand, Trinamool Congress's Jahangir Khan, who opted out of the repoll, finished a distant fourth, dealing another blow to the Mamata Banerjee-led party, which suffered a rout in the Assembly polls.

After 22 rounds of counting, Panda cruised to victory with 1,49,666 votes, far ahead of his nearest rival – CPI(M)'s Sambhu Nath Kurmi, who got 40,645 votes so far. Congress candidate Abdur Razzak Molla finished third, with 10,084 votes polled.

Jahangir Khan, who once likened himself to 'Pushpa' and had dramatically withdrawn from the repoll, finished fourth and got only 7,783 votes. Despite opting out of the repoll, falta-assembly-repoll-jahangir-khan-tmc-bjp-debangshu-panda-abhishek-banerjee-aide-diamond-harbour-2916284-2026-05-24" target="_self">Khan's name and TMC symbol remained on the EVMs as the Election Commission's withdrawal deadline had passed. Notably, Falta falls under the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha seat represented by Abhishek Banerjee, who is widely regarded as the party’s second-in-command.

The BJP, following a sweeping victory in the West Bengal Assembly polls by winning 207 of the 293 declared seats on May 4, has now added Falta as its 208th seat.

WHY FALTA HAD TO UNDERGO A REPOLL?

Falta has traditionally remained a stronghold of the TMC since the party came to power in West Bengal in 2011. However, during the 2026 West Bengal elections, multiple booths in the constituency came under scrutiny following allegations of electoral irregularities. The BJP had accused ruling party workers of large-scale electoral malpractice in the area.

Reacting to the Falta repoll result, West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari said that the “Diamond Harbour model” had collapsed and mockingly called it the “Trinamool’s Loss-Bar model”. Thanking voters for giving Panda a huge victory, Adhikari said the result reflected people’s rejection of what he described as TMC’s politics of intimidation, syndicates and misuse of state machinery.

He alleged that the earlier election had been distorted and claimed the repoll exposed the “real mandate” after people were able to vote freely. Adhikari said the result was only the beginning of a larger political shift in West Bengal.

Abhishek Banerjee, however, questioned the conduct of the repoll and alleged irregularities in the counting process. Pointing to the pace of counting, Banerjee said all 21 rounds were completed by around 3:30 pm, whereas only a few rounds had been completed by that time during the earlier count on May 4. He asked the Election Commission to explain the difference.

He also alleged that over 1,000 TMC workers had been thrown out from polling booths in Falta in recent days and accused the Election Commission of ignoring complaints of vandalism and electoral manipulation.

The Election Commission had cancelled the earlier polling process following allegations of voter intimidation, suspected EVM irregularities and procedural violations reported from multiple booths.

Following the party’s electoral setback, there was speculation that the TMC would make aggressive efforts to revive its cadre base in Falta.

However, in the lead-up to polling, no senior TMC leader campaigned for candidate Jahangir Khan. Neither TMC chief Mamata Banerjee nor party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee addressed rallies in the constituency.

Jahangir Khan had earlier grabbed headlines after openly challenging IPS officer Ajay Pal Sharma, who was brought in from Uttar Pradesh as a poll observer ahead of the West Bengal polls.

Known for his image as an “encounter specialist”, Sharma is often referred to as 'Singham', a nickname that followed him to West Bengal as well. Responding to the comparison, Khan had styled himself as 'Pushpa', inspired by actor Allu Arjun’s popular character from the film Pushpa: The Rise.

“If he is Singham, then I am Pushpa,” Khan had remarked after Sharma reportedly visited his residence before polling and warned his family members against intimidating voters on election day.

But the swagger did not translate into electoral success. As counting progressed, the self-styled 'Pushpa' slipped to a distant fourth position while BJP’s Debangshu Panda opened up an unassailable lead, turning Falta into one of the most politically symbolic contests after the change of guard in West Bengal.

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