Jahangir Khan, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate who had compared himself to ‘Pushpa’ before announcing his withdrawal from the Falta Assembly repoll, still managed to get more than 7,500 votes as BJP candidate Debangshu Panda registered a massive win in the constituency on Sunday.
Khan, considered close to TMC MP Abhishek Banerjee, finished fourth with 7,783 votes despite publicly stepping away from the contest. Panda secured 1,49,666 votes after 22 rounds of counting, recording the highest victory margin in the West Bengal Assembly polls.
The result dealt another setback to the TMC in what was once seen as one of its strongholds. The party had already suffered a major defeat in the state elections earlier.
Many questioned how Khan still received thousands of votes after withdrawing from the race. However, under election rules, his withdrawal came too late to officially remove his name from the contest. Khan had announced on May 19 that he was stepping aside, but the Election Commission’s deadline for withdrawal had already passed before that.
As a result, his name and the TMC symbol remained on the EVMs during the May 21 repoll, and every vote cast in his favour was counted as valid.
Khan had earlier built a strong image in the South 24 Parganas region and Falta had remained a TMC bastion since the party came to power in West Bengal in 2011.
The 41-year-old had attracted attention during the campaign after comparing himself to the film character ‘Pushpa’, saying he would not bow under pressure.
But in a dramatic development, Khan later held a press conference and declared that he was withdrawing from the repoll. Calling himself “a son of the soil of Falta”, he claimed he took the decision after the newly formed BJP government led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari promised a major development package for the area.
“I want peace and development for the people here. For the sake of progress, I am stepping aside,” Khan had said.
The TMC later distanced itself from the move, saying it was Khan’s personal decision and not approved by the party. The BJP, meanwhile, mocked him and claimed that the self-styled ‘Pushpa’ had backed down under pressure amid ongoing political and legal troubles.
On polling day, Khan stayed away from campaigning and did not even cast his own vote. Local TMC offices also remained unusually quiet. Still, many voters continued to press the TMC symbol on the EVM, while some may not have known that Khan had announced his withdrawal.
WHY REPOLLING WAS HELD IN FALTA
The Election Commission ordered fresh polling in all 285 booths of Falta on May 2 after allegations of irregularities during the April 29 voting. Complaints included suspected EVM-related issues and alleged attempts to tamper with web-camera footage at polling stations.
The repoll took place under tight security with around 35 companies of central forces deployed across the constituency. More than 88 per cent of the 2.36 lakh voters cast their votes.
The Falta repoll later became politically significant as the BJP managed to establish a commanding lead in an area earlier seen as part of the TMC’s organisational stronghold in the Diamond Harbour belt.
Khan had also made headlines earlier after openly challenging IPS officer Ajay Pal Sharma, who was brought from Uttar Pradesh as a poll observer before the elections.
Sharma, often nicknamed ‘Singham’ for his encounter-specialist image, reportedly visited Khan’s residence before polling and warned against voter intimidation. In response, Khan had declared, “If he is Singham, then I am Pushpa.”
However, the confidence did not help him electorally. As counting progressed, Khan slipped to fourth place while BJP’s Debangshu Panda maintained a huge lead, making Falta one of the most talked-about contests after the political shift in West Bengal.
With Panda’s victory, the BJP’s tally in the Assembly would rise to 208 seats from 207, though the party’s effective strength would remain unchanged after Suvendu Adhikari vacated the Nandigram seat following his decision to retain Bhabanipur, where Mamata Banerjee lost.