Suvendu Adhikari; Jahangir Khan

New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday warned Trinamool Congress (TMC) “so-called Pushpa” Jahangir Khan ahead of re-polling in Falta assembly constituency on May 21.“The so-called Pushpa is now my responsibility; Falta repoll should be violence free,” PTI quoted the official as saying.Ahead of the assembly elections, Khan, a powerful Trinamool leader and the party’s Falta candidate, had described himself as “Pushpa” – a take on the smuggler-turned-strongman character played by Allu Arjun in the two “Pushpa” films.The comment was in response to UP-cadre IPS officer Ajay Pal Sharma, who was appointed by the Election Commission as a police observer in West Bengal, being compared to “Singham” – the police officer character portrayed by Ajay Devgan in the “Singham” film series. In a viral video, Sharma was seen warning Khan’s family, prompting Khan’s reaction.“Tell him, if his men continue to threaten, we will deal with him appropriately…then don’t cry or repent,” Sharma said in the video.The Election Commission ordered fresh polling in Falta after the button next to the BJP symbol was found stuck with tape on electronic voting machines at several polling stations. Counting of votes will take place on May 24.In the West Bengal Assembly elections held on April 23 and 29, the BJP ousted TMC, ending the Mamata Banerjee-led party’s 15-year rule and forming its first government in the state. The election saw over 90% voting in both phases.Adhikari, a former TMC leader, won both his bastion Nandigram and Banerjee’s Bhawanipur bastion, where he defeated the now former chief minister, repeating the 2021 Nandigram contest in which he won by a slim margin. He has since vacated the Nandigram seat and retained Bhabanipur.