Falta Repoll: BJP Candidate Leads by 14,514 Votes; Trinamool in 4th Position

Kolkata (IANS): After the fifth round of counting for the Falta Assembly constituency repoll on Sunday, BJP candidate Debangshu Panda holds a comfortable lead of 14,514 votes over his closest opponents.

Figures from the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) show that after five rounds, the BJP candidate has secured 30,562 votes. CPI(M)’s Sambhunath Kurmi follows with 16,048 votes, while Congress candidate Abdur Razzak has grabbed 3,510 votes.

Trinamool Congress candidate Jahangir Khan sits in fourth position with just 1,685 votes.

Officials will conduct 21 rounds of counting in total, and they expect a clearer result by 1 p.m.

This marks the first time since the 2011 West Bengal Assembly elections that the CPI(M) has outperformed the Trinamool Congress in vote share.

Political Observers Weigh In

Political observers note that while they already expected a BJP victory in Falta, the real mystery centered on the second-place spot.

“While we anticipated the CPI(M) candidate might beat Trinamool Congress, we did not expect the Congress candidate to surpass Trinamool as well,” observers stated.

With a BJP victory virtually guaranteed, the new lineup in the 294-seat West Bengal Assembly gives the ruling party 208 seats. Trinamool Congress holds 80, the Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) and Congress hold two each, and the CPI(M) and All India Secular Front hold one each.

Atmosphere at the Counting Centre

Security personnel heavily guarded the counting center throughout the process. As the BJP candidate widened his lead, party workers erupted into celebrations.

In contrast, Trinamool candidate Jahangir Khan and his party agents boycotted the counting center entirely. Khan had previously announced his withdrawal from the election, though he remained on the ballot until officials announced the repoll.