BJP candidate Debangshu Panda celebrated in Falta in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district. (PTI photo)

New Delhi: The BJP won the repoll in Falta Assembly constituency in West Bengal, with its candidate Debangshu Panda securing more than a lakh votes than his nearest rival as counting took place on Sunday for the repoll held on May 21.Click here for live updates
According to the Election Commission (ECI) website, after all 22 rounds of counting, Panda got 149,666 votes, while Sambhu Nath Kurmi of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) stood second with 40,645 votes.With this victory, BJP’s tally returned to 207 seats in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly. The party had originally won 207 seats too, but Suvendu Adhikari – now the state’s first BJP chief minister – vacated his Nandigram seat and retained Bhabanipur, where he had defeated his predecessor as chief minister, Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee.Falta’s victory would be icing on the cake for the BJP, not only because it was a TMC-dominated constituency but also because of the events leading up to this victory.‘Diamond Harbor Model’ collapsedFalta constituency falls under the Diamond Harbor Lok Sabha seat in South 24 Parganas district. TMC won Falta in three consecutive assembly elections (2011, 2016 and 2021), while Diamond Harbor is represented in the Lok Sabha by the party’s number two Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of Mamata Banerjee, who has won three consecutive general elections from the constituency (2014, 2019 and 2024).Abhishek secured 40% votes in 2014, followed by 56% and 68% votes respectively in the next two elections.On 2 May, two days before the counting of votes in West Bengal, he challenged the “Union of India” to “make a dent in my Diamond Harbor model too”.Abhishek had also allegedly given provocative speeches during the campaign.After Trinamool’s defeat, the new BJP-led government has reduced their security cover. Additionally, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has issued notices to 17 properties belonging to them over alleged building violations and unauthorized construction.The mayor of KMC is Firhad Hakim, a senior TMC leader.‘Singham’ vs ‘Pushpa’There was an interesting fight between Trinamool stalwart and its Falta candidate Jahangir Khan and Uttar Pradesh-cadre police officer Ajay Pal Sharma, who was sent to West Bengal by the ECI as a police observer.Sharma was dubbed “Singham” by the media after the police officer played by Ajay Devgan in the “Singham” films.After Sharma was seen warning Khan’s family in a viral video, the TMC leader referred to himself as “Pushpa” – Allu Arjun’s strongman-turned-smuggler character in the two “Pushpa” films.‘Pushpa’ accepted defeatIn a development that confirmed the Falta repoll result even before a single vote was cast, Khan, an ally of Abhishek Banerjee, “withdrew” from the contest two days before the election. He claimed that he quit after the CM official assured him of a “special package” for the constituency.However, the announcement came amid FIRs lodged against Khan, prompting him to move the Calcutta High Court seeking and obtaining protection from arrest. The move came just two days after the officer commented that he would “personally handle” Khan’s case.Despite Khan’s “withdrawal”, his name remained on the voting machines, as the deadline for withdrawal of nominations had already passed.“Pushpa” stood fourth in the repoll, receiving only 7,783 votes in the six-person contest, excluding the NOTA (None of the Above) option.Why was re-polling conducted?In the second and final phase of the election, on 29 April, the ECI ordered re-polling at all 285 polling stations in Falta over allegations of large-scale irregularities. Tapes in the names of BJP candidates were found stuck on the voting machines at many booths.