Kolkata, May 25: In a major political upset in West Bengal, BJP candidate Debangshu Panda secured a massive victory in the Falta Assembly constituency, defeating rivals by an impressive margin of 1.09 lakh votes and ending the Trinamool Congress’ long-standing dominance in the seat.
According to the election results, Debangshu Panda polled 1,49,666 votes, while CPI(M) candidate Sambhu Nath Kurmi finished second with 40,645 votes. Congress nominee Abdur Razzak Molla secured third place with 10,084 votes.
Former TMC candidate Jahangir Khan, who dramatically announced his withdrawal just days before the repoll, slipped to fourth position with only 7,783 votes. The Trinamool Congress stated that Khan’s decision to step aside was his personal choice.
The Falta Assembly seat, with nearly 2.36 lakh voters, had remained a TMC stronghold since 2011. In the 2021 Assembly elections, the party had won the constituency with around 57 percent vote share.
The repoll was conducted on May 21 across all 285 polling booths under heavy central security deployment after the Election Commission ordered fresh polling following allegations of large-scale irregularities during the April 29 voting.
Jahangir Khan, known for his ‘Pushpa’-style campaign image, had announced he was stepping aside “in the interest of Falta” just two days before the repoll.
Political observers see BJP’s landslide victory in Falta as a significant breakthrough for the party in West Bengal, indicating changing voter sentiment in the region.
