Falta Repolling begins amid tight security; TMC’s Jahangir Khan out of race, BJP confident of victory

Former Special Observer of the Election Commission, Subrata Gupta, had visited the constituency and conducted a scrutiny, following which evidence of alleged tampering was detected in at least 60 booths.

Published: May 21, 2026 7:35 AM IST

New Delhi: The repolling for West Bengal’s Falta assembly constituency begins after the Election Commission ordered fresh voting for the seat, citing “subversion of the democratic process”. To recall, the constituency earlier went to polls on April 29. As per news agency PTI, the Election Commission has nearly doubled the security arrangements for the repoll in the Falta assembly constituency. Eight Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel will be deployed at each polling booth. The official said that during the April 29 polling, only four personnel were stationed at each booth.

More than 2.36 lakh people, including 1.15 lakh women and nine belonging to the third gender, are eligible to cast their votes across 285 booths in this re-election, which commenced at 7 am.

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Here are some of the key details:

• A total of six candidates are in the fray, including TMC’s Jahangir Khan, who announced he was withdrawing from the race on Tuesday.
• Among other candidates are Debangshu Panda of the BJP, CPI(M)’s Sambhu Nath Kurmi, and Congress’ Abdur Razzak Molla.
• A total of 35 companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) have been deployed for the repoll, with eight personnel, equivalent to one full section, at each booth
• On April 29, only four personnel, or half a section, had been stationed at each booth, they added.
• 30 Quick Response Teams (QRTs) are on standby to respond swiftly to any disturbance.
• The TMC has won the Falta seat since 2001, barring the 2006 assembly polls, when the CPI(M) had bagged the seat.

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Political tensions have remained high in the constituency since allegations surfaced from multiple booths that perfume substances and adhesive tapes had been applied to EVMs during the earlier polling. Former Special Observer of the Election Commission, Subrata Gupta, had visited the constituency and conducted a scrutiny, following which evidence of alleged tampering was detected in at least 60 booths.

Apart from the alleged EVM manipulation, authorities also found attempts to tamper with footage captured by web cameras installed at several polling stations.