Falta assembly by-repoll begins in West Bengal amid heightened security

Kolkata: BJP's Debangshu Panda raced ahead of his nearest CPI(M) rival by over 14,000 votes, after the fifth round of counting on Sunday in the repoll to West Bengal's Falta assembly constituency, according to the Election Commission.After five of the 21 counting rounds, Panda bagged 30,562 votes, opening up a lead of 14,514 votes over CPI(M) candidate Sambhu Nath Kurmi, who polled 16,048 votes.Trinamool Congress nominee Jahangir Khan, who had announced two days before the repoll that he would not contest and described it as a personal decision, trailed in the fourth place with 1,685 votes.Congress candidate Abdur Razzak Molla was placed third with 3,510 votes after the fifth round of countng.Counting of votes began at 8 am amid tight security arrangements, an EC official said.The repoll in all 285 booths of the constituency in South 24 Parganas district was conducted on May 21, after polling held on April 29 was countermanded following allegations of EVM tampering and other irregularities.The repoll saw more than 87 per cent of the 2.36 lakh electors turning up to vote. The Commission had significantly stepped up security arrangements, deploying around 35 companies of central forces across the constituency to ensure smooth voting.The total electorate in the constituency comprises 1,21,300 men, 1,15,135 women and nine third-gender individuals.Tension had gripped the constituency after complaints surfaced during the April 29 polling over alleged use of perfume-like substances and adhesive tapes on EVMs at multiple booths.Subsequent scrutiny also revealed alleged attempts to tamper with footage captured by web cameras installed at several polling stations, raising questions over the role of booth-level officers, presiding officers, polling personnel and election observers.Following its findings, the EC ordered repolling in all booths of the constituency.

"The counting is progressing peacefully. Adequate security arrangements have been made at the counting centre," a poll panel official said.

Polling for the Falta Assembly seat was held in the second phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections on April 29; after large-scale irregularities were reported, the Election Commission ordered re-polling in the constituency on May 21.

Voting began on Thursday morning for the re-election to the Falta assembly seat in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, amid tight security, officials said. 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, they said. The repoll was ordered due to "severe electoral offences and subversion of the democratic process" on April 29, when voting in Falta was held in the second phase of the assembly elections, the officials said. A total of six candidates are in the fray, including TMC's Jahangir Khan, who announced he was withdrawing from the race on Tuesday. Even as Khan announced pulling out from the contest, his name remained on the EVMs as he couldn't officially withdraw his candidature. 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 Centra

Kolkata: The repoll to the Falta Assembly constituency in West Bengal on Thursday saw a voter turnout of nearly 43 per cent till 11 am, with no untoward incident reported from anywhere, a poll panel official said.A total of 2.36 lakh electors -- 1,21,300 men, 1,15,135 women and nine third gender individuals -- are eligible to exercise their franchise in the repoll, which started at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm.The Election Commission doubled the security arrangements for the repoll after the April 29 polling in the seat was countermanded over allegations of large-scale EVM tampering.Around 35 companies of the central forces are manning the 285 polling booths to ensure smooth voting. Additionally, 30 Quick Response Teams are on standby to respond swiftly to any disturbance."This time, the polling has been peaceful. There is no untoward incident from anywhere in Falta. Long queues of voters were seen outside polling booths. Till 11 am, a voter turnout of 42.83 per cent has been registered. This is a good show," the poll panel official told PTI.A large number of voters were seen queuing outside the 285 polling stations in the Assembly constituency since early morning.Although officially six candidates are in the fray for the seat, Trinamool Congress candidate Jahangir Khan, a couple of days ago, announced that he would not contest the poll, a decision the party described as his personal.Political tensions remained high in the constituency since polling on April 29, when complaints surfaced from multiple booths alleging that perfume substances and adhesive tapes had been applied to EVMs, which ultimately led to the countermanding of the polls.