“This is the first time in the last ten years that we are coming to vote without silent eyes following us. Even on April 29, we had a similar experience, but today the atmosphere is completely different,” said 47-year-old Shyamal Patra, standing outside the Belsingha Nimtala ICDS Centre, Booth No. 187 of the Falta Assembly constituency.
Standing next to him, 51-year-old Samir Patra, said, “They always used to keep a watch on us. A day before polling, the TMC workers would come to our houses and instruct us to go to their office before going to the booth. There they would instruct us where to vote. Even after that, they would either install small cameras in front of the EVM or someone else would cast our vote and later inform us that our vote had been cast.”
He added, “I am a local doctor. During every election, I would treat at least three youths who were beaten up by TMC goons for voting for opposition parties. We started believing that we would never come out of this terrible situation.”
For the first time in a decade, voters in Falta Assembly constituency said that they were casting their votes without fear or intimidation, as heavy deployment of Central forces and state police ensured a largely peaceful repoll on Thursday.
Long queues were seen outside booths from early morning, while voters spoke about what they described as years of surveillance and violence during polls. According to the Election Commission of India (ECI) data, 88.13 per cent voter turnout was recorded, with no major incident reported during the repoll.
“We are now free to cast our votes. Nobody is forcing us. From 2016 onwards, we could never cast our ballots freely. In the last Lok Sabha elections, TMC goons installed cameras in front of EVM. A day before polling, they said that we have to cast our votes for TMC or else we would have to face consequences. But now we are voting freely and nobody intimidated us,” 54-year-old Jhuma Paul from Belsingha area said.
Waiting in a queue outside Srirampur Paschim Durgapur Primary School, barely 50m from the residence of TMC strongman Jahangir Khan, 40-year-old Tapashi Mullick said, “We faced different styles of rigging in this area. Sometimes, they (TMC) would put black tape on opposition symbols and names. Sometimes, one person used to stand in front of EVM who would cast votes for the TMC on behalf of us.”
The repoll was ordered after opposition candidates in Falta alleged manipulation during polling in the Falta Assembly constituency on April 29. After a detailed investigation, the EC directed that fresh polling be conducted in all 285 polling booths.
“On Consideration of severe electoral offences and subversion of democratic process during the polling in a large number of polling stations on 29th April 2026 in 144-Falta Assembly Constituency, West Bengal: ECI directs that fresh poll shall be conducted in all the 285 polling stations, including Auxiliary polling stations; Fresh Poll in all polling stations will be conducted between 7 AM to 6 PM on 21st May 2026 and Counting of votes will take place on 24th May 2026,” ECI said in a release.
Notably, just days ahead of repolling, TMC’s Falta candidate Jahangir Khan said he was “withdrawing” his candidature after Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s promise of a “special package” for the constituency.
According to election rules, Khan cannot officially withdraw as the deadline for withdrawal of nominations has already passed. After his announcement, the contest has effectively become a fight between BJP candidate Debangshu Panda and CPI(M) nominee Shambhu Kurmi.
Ahead of polling, Khan hit the headlines after police observer and senior Uttar Pradesh officer Ajay Pal Sharma, known as an “encounter specialist”, conducted searches at his home. When Sharma, known as “Singham (daredevil)”, did not find him, he issued a warning to Khan’s family members, which was captured in a video that went viral.
Later, referring to Bollywood movie Singham and Telugu action film Pushpa, Khan told reporters, “The police observer should inform the local SP if there is any problem. But he visited my home with the Central forces. How can he do that? We only bow to people. We will not bow to him. This is Bengal; if he is ‘Singham’, I am ‘Pushpa’. No amount of threat or coercion by the BJP-appointed police officials from Uttar Pradesh will be allowed in Falta.”
However, on Thursday, neither Khan nor any local TMC leader were seen in Falta and his party office remained closed.
Meanwhile, CPIM candidate Shambhu Kurmi said that the people of Falta cast their votes freely for the first time in the last ten years.
However, he also alleged, “Yesterday late at night, two of our workers were detained by police. The Inspector in-charge of Falta police station didn’t even explain why they were detained.”