Kolkata: BJP’s Debangshu Panda was leading by a massive margin of more than 69,000 votes over his nearest CPI(M) rival after 15 rounds of counting on Sunday in the repoll to West Bengal’s Falta Assembly constituency, according to the Election Commission.
After 15 of the 21 counting rounds, Panda bagged 1,03,089 votes, establishing a lead of 69,673 votes over CPI(M) candidate Sambhu Nath Kurmi, who polled 33,416 votes.
Congress candidate Abdur Razzak Molla was placed third with 9,089 votes.
Trinamool Congress nominee Jahangir Khan, who had announced two days before the repoll that he would not contest, trailed in the fourth place with 5,134 votes.
Khan had said he stepped aside in Falta's interest, and cited Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari's promise of a special development package as a factor behind his decision.
The TMC, however, quickly distanced itself from Khan's move, calling it his "personal decision".
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.
