KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress candidate and a close aide of Abhishek Banerjee Jahangir Khan withdrew from the re-election in Falta assembly constituency on Tuesday, less than 48 hours before the repolling on 21 May.
Falta is one of the seven Assembly constituencies under the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency in South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Khan, who appeared virtually isolated in the political battleground of Falta, said Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari’s promise of a special development package for the area prompted him to take the decision.
Khan said he withdrew from the contest keeping Falta’s interests in mind.
Hours after his decision, several Trinamool Congress MLAs, including Kunal Ghosh, Ritobrata Banerjee and Sandipan Saha, demanded that the party leadership suspend him.
Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee later held a meeting at her Kalighat residence with newly elected party legislators, during which Khan’s issue was reportedly discussed.
Political observers felt the MLAs’ demand to suspend Khan was indirectly aimed at targeting Abhishek Banerjee.
After suffering a major defeat to the BJP in the recently held Assembly elections in 293 seats, no Trinamool heavyweight, including Abhishek Banerjee, was seen campaigning for Khan during the Falta repoll phase, despite the constituency being barely 40 km from Kolkata.
Abhishek Banerjee, who won the 2024 Lok Sabha election from Diamond Harbour for a third consecutive time since 2014 with a record margin of over seven lakh votes, also did not address a single rally in Falta in support of Khan, despite Khan reportedly giving him a lead of around 1.70 lakh votes from the Assembly segment.
“I am the son of Falta, and I want the area to remain peaceful and develop,” Khan told reporters.
Meanwhile, Suvendu Adhikari, who held a roadshow in Falta on Tuesday, claimed Khan withdrew because he would not get polling agents. Adhikari had also addressed a rally in Falta on Saturday.
“He had no other option, as he would not get polling agents, so he decided to run away,” the Chief Minister told reporters on the sidelines of his campaign.
Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress, in a post on X, alleged that more than 100 of its workers had been arrested in Falta while the Election Commission “continued to turn a blind eye”.
“The decision taken by Jahangir Khan to withdraw from the Falta re-poll is his personal decision and not that of the party. Since the election results were declared on May 4, more than 100 of our party workers have been arrested in the Falta constituency alone. Several party offices have been vandalised, shut down and forcibly captured in broad daylight through intimidation, while the EC continues to turn a blind eye despite repeated complaints,” the party said.
“Even in the face of such pressure, our workers remain rock-solid and continue to resist the BJP’s intimidation unleashed through agencies and the administration. However, some eventually succumbed to the pressure and chose to step away from the field. We strongly condemn this. Our fight against the Bangla Birodhi BJP will continue, both in Bengal and in Delhi,” the party added in its X post.
On Monday, a single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court granted interim protection to Khan from any coercive police action, including arrest, until the repoll process is completed and results are announced.
Khan had approached the bench of Justice Saugata Bhattacharya seeking anticipatory bail, apprehending arrest ahead of the repoll.
The court reportedly clarified that the interim protection would apply to all FIRs registered against him.
Khan is facing five FIRs, one registered on May 5, three on May 10 and another on May 15. The charges relate to alleged voter intimidation and other electoral irregularities during polling in Falta on April 29.
The Election Commission of India announced re-election in Falta across 285 polling booths on May 21 following irregularities reported during the second phase of polling in 142 Assembly seats on April 29. The first phase elections in 152 seats were held on May 23.
The BJP secured a historic victory in West Bengal with 207 seats, while Trinamool Congress won 80 constituencies. The saffron party formed its first-ever government in the state, with Suvendu Adhikari becoming Chief Minister.
