BJP wins West Bengal’s Falta assembly repoll by over 1 lakh votes

Kolkata: The BJP on Sunday swept the repoll in West Bengal’s Falta assembly seat, with its candidate Debanshu Panda securing victory by a margin of more than one lakh votes. The Trinamool Congress finished fourth, with Jahangir Khan forfeiting his security deposit, while the CPI(M) emerged in second place.

Polling 1,49,666 votes, BJP’s Debanshu Panda defeated his nearest rival, the CPI(M)’s Sambhu Nath Kurmi, by a margin of 1,09,021 votes. Kurmi secured 40,645 votes while the Congress’ Abdur Razzak Molla finished third with 10,084 votes. “Today in the Falta repoll, BJP won. Pushpa kahan hai? (Where is Pushpa?) There will be a by-election in Nandigram. I hope you will vote in Nandigram in the same way,” West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari said during a public rally in Nandigram.

Meanwhile, former West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Sunday alleged that EVM rigging and vote looting had taken place in the Falta Assembly constituency. She also accused the BJP of torturing Trinamool workers and the people of Bengal.