Falta Assembly Constituency Repoll: Irregularities, Security, and Political Fallout

Fresh polling kicked off Thursday. It happened across all 285 polling stations in the Falta Assembly constituency. That’s in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district. The Election Commission, they ordered it. A complete repoll.

Voting ran from seven in the morning until six in the evening. Counting is slated for May 24th.

The whole thing stems from the ECI’s decision. They ordered this after hearing about serious stuff. Allegations of huge irregularities during the West Bengal Assembly elections, the ones held in two phases back in April—the 23rd and the 29th.

It wasn't just Falta, though. Repolling is happening in fifteen other spots too. Scattered across the Paschim Magrahat and Diamond Harbour Assembly constituencies.

The reason for the move? The Commission cited reports of "severe electoral offences and subversion of the democratic process" during that April 29th voting. Complaints came in from several polling stations in the area.

Security just got dialed up. Across the constituency, things are tighter now. PTI reported that eight Central Armed Police Force personnel are at every single polling booth. Double the usual number.

A senior election official said they weren't messing around. The poll panel didn't want any room for trouble this time. Security arrangements were significantly strengthened.

Falta has 285 booths. Thirty quick response teams are on standby. And thirty companies of central forces are deployed just to keep order.

They’re watching things closer now too. Web cameras are installed inside every booth, plus one outside. Live webcasting is running for the polling stations and the surrounding areas.

Monitoring is supposedly happening from the District Election Officer and the Chief Electoral Officer offices. They're even looking at drones for surveillance.

Three election observers were brought in to watch the whole voting process.

Meanwhile, there was the political side. A day before the repoll, Trinamool Congress candidate Jahangir Khan pulled out.

He said he dreamt Falta should be golden Falta. The Chief Minister, Suvendu Adhikari, promised a special package for the constituency. That’s why Khan stepped aside from contesting the re-vote.

"I am the son of the soil," he claimed. Stepping aside to ensure peace and prosperity for the people.

Adhikari held a roadshow in Falta on Tuesday. He announced that a special package would be in the next state budget. He also promised jobs for one family member of every BJP worker allegedly killed in the post-poll violence back in 2021.

He took a jab at Jahangir Khan, calling him "self-styled Pushpa." Said he had no other choice because he wouldn't get a polling agent, so he ran away.

The Chief Minister claimed voters were finally getting a chance to vote freely. "What I am witnessing today is people’s happiness," he said. "It feels like a second Independence Day. Voters get back their voting rights after ten years. They can finally cast their votes freely and fairly."

On the BJP side, candidate Debangshu Panda felt confident about a big win. He pegged the margin in Falta at one to one-point-five lakhs votes.

Panda alleged that massive irregularities happened earlier. He claimed the BJP had demanded a fresh vote because of alleged manipulation and voter intimidation at several booths.

He brought up the cellotape issue. They petitioned for re-polling in the 150 booths where the BJP symbol had tape put on them. They even rotated cameras in some spots. Yesterday, they got their demand. Repoll declared for May 21st.

The ECI finally acted after special observer Sujeet Mishra submitted a report. That report highlighted serious violations during polling in Falta.

That report pointed out missing or incomplete CCTV footage from several stations. At polling station 229, no footage was available from the start until 3:14 pm. At 177, footage was missing during multiple times.

The observer noted this. Serious allegations of intimidation and voter obstruction couldn't be verified because the footage was gone.

But he also saw things in the footage that were there. At polling station 224, the report noted an extremely large number of instances. Companions voting on behalf of others all day. Multiple people inside the voting compartment. Same people voting multiple times. Agents repeatedly pushing into the compartment and casting votes for others.

Similar stuff came up from polling stations 160, 182, and 232.

The observer wrapped up by saying that polling at sixty of Falta’s 285 booths had been messed up by irregularities.