BJP supporters celebrate outside a counting centre, at Falta, in South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, Sunday, May 24, 2026. BJP candidate Debangshu Panda was leading after several rounds of counting in the repoll to the Falta assembly constituency.
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The Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Debangshu Panda won the Falta Assembly seat by a massive margin of more than 1 lakh votes over his nearest CPI(M) rival Sambhu Nath Kurmi on Sunday in the re-poll to West Bengal’s Falta Assembly constituency.Turning the constituency, considered a Trinamool Congress stronghold, in the State’s South 24 Parganas district, into the site of a political reversal, Panda secured 149666 votes. While Kurmi came second with 40,645 votes cast in his favour, indicating a significant electoral rise for CPI(M), Trinamool Congress nominee Jahangir Khan, who had announced two days before the re-poll that he would not contest, slipped to fourth position with only 7783 votes and forfeited his deposit.Congress candidate Abdur Razzak Molla stood third with 10,084 votes. The BJP secured 71.2 per cent vote share in the repoll, a sharp jump from 36.75 per cent in 2021, while the Trinamool’s vote share crashed to just 3.7 per cent. While CPI(M)’s vote share stood at 19.34 per cent, that of Congress was 4.8 per cent, according to the Election Commission. The deposits of both the Trinamool Congress and Congress candidates were forfeited.With the Falta victory, the BJP’s tally for the 2026 Assembly polls rose to 208 from 207, though the saffron party’s effective Assembly strength remained 207 after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari vacated Nandigram upon retaining Bhabanipur seat in south Kolkata.Around 88.13 per cent of the 2.36 lakh electorate cast their votes during the re-election. The fresh election for the Falta constituency was held on May 21 after the Assembly poll for this seat was cancelled on April 29 over allegations of widespread malpractices.The Election Commission ordered the repoll for this seat even as results for the remaining 293 Assembly constituencies had already been declared on May 4. The BJP recorded a historic victory and came to power in West Bengal for the first time.Major setbackThe Trinamool Congress faced a major setback ahead of the re-poll after Jahangir Khan decided to quit the race two days before the re-poll, leaving the high-profile contest wide open.Khan, considered a controversial close aide of Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, said he was “withdrawing” his candidature as Suvendu Adhikari had promised a “special package” for the constituency.On BJP’s victory in Falta, Adhikary said, “First and foremost, I bow my head before the people of Falta for sending BJP candidate Debangshu Panda to the Assembly with an overwhelming mandate in the Falta by-election. I am especially grateful to the voters of Falta. I had appealed to the people to ensure a victory margin of one lakh votes for the BJP candidate, and the margin has crossed one lakh eight thousand. We will repay this debt through development. We are committed to building a prosperous Falta.”After the BJP recorded a big win in re-polling in the Falta seat, Trinamool’s Abhishek Banerjee alleged vandalism of party offices, and workers “forced to flee”.In a statement on X, Banerjee alleged that the Election Commission took no action against the alleged flouting of the Model Code of Conduct in Falta Assembly constituency, and sought an explanation from the poll body.Published on May 24, 2026
