Falta: Vote counting for the high profile Falta Assembly seat in West Bengal began at 8 am on Sunday. As per current trends, BJP candidate Debangshu Panda leads the race to leadership in Falta Assembly constituency. After the 7th counting round, Debangshu Panda bagged 44,792 votes, leading by 26,339 votes over CPI(M) candidate Sambhu Nath Kurmi.
Congress candidate Abdul Razzak Molla and CPI(M)nominee Shambhu Kurmi remained in the contest while Trinamool Congress candidate Jahangir Khan publicly announced just before the repoll that he would no longer contest the seat. The party later described his decision as a personal one.
“The counting is progressing peacefully. Adequate security arrangements have been made at the counting centre,” an ECI official said interacting with media posted outside the counting booth.
Security personnel were deployed in large numbers outside the counting centres and strong rooms as the politically sensitive constituency witnessed intense attention following the recent repoll ordered by the ECI.
Why Repolling in Falta?
The Falta Assembly first underwent polls on April 29th following which serious allegations of electoral irregularities were reported. In view of the malpractices, the ECI had ordered a complete repoll across all 285 booths in the constituency.
Complaints included claims of EVM tampering, voter intimidation and obstruction at several polling stations in South 24 Parganas district. Reports claimed buttons linked to BJP candidates on certain Electronic Voting Machines were allegedly covered with white tape. There were also accusations that many voters were prevented from casting their votes.
Following an inquiry conducted by special poll observer Subrata Gupta, the ECI decided to cancel the earlier polling and ordered fresh voting in the entire constituency.
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