Jahangir Khan (PTI)
KOLKATA: Trinamool Congress’s Falta candidate, Jahangir Khan, declared on Tuesday that he would not contest the May 21 repoll.Khan made the announcement during a press conference at his home in Falta’s Kamardanga Khan Para, where he praised CM Suvendu Adhikari for his proposed special package for Falta.“I want Falta to remain peaceful and prosperous. My dream has always been for Falta to become a golden Falta.That is why our honourable CM is giving a special package for Falta’s development. I am withdrawing myself from the May 21 contest for the sake of Falta’s development and the benefit of its residents,” said the 41-year-old, a close associate of TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee and a key “vote organiser” for the party.Khan’s announcement, less than 48 hours before the re-election, coincided with the CM’s roadshow in the constituency, where he exhorted voters to gift BJP a winning margin of “at least 1 lakh” votes. “He (Khan) had no other way. Since he won’t get a polling agent, he decided to run away,” Adhikari told reporters, reacting to Khan’s exit from the fray.TMC released a statement saying Khan’s withdrawal of candidature was his “personal decision and not that of the party”.The stunning reversal of fortunes capped a month of high drama in Falta, the only constituency in Bengal where Election Commission ordered a repoll following reports of widespread electoral malpractice.Khan was also involved in a high-profile “Pushpa-Singham” spat with Uttar Pradesh DIG and Diamond Harbour poll observer Ajay Pal Sharma — called Singham by a section of the media — just three days before the April 29 election.We are resisting, but some succumbed to pressure: TMCIf he is Singham, I am Pushpa. I will not bow down,” Jahangir Khan had said, daring the police officer from UP.TMC has won the seat since 2011, with the margin of victory increasing from 13% in 2016 to nearly 20% in 2021. Falta is one of the seven assembly segments of the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency, represented by TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee. In 2024, Banerjee had won the seat with a massive margin of 7.1 lakh votes, the highest in the state.Also Read | ‘CM Adhikari promised …’: Jahangir Khan exits Falta repoll; TMC says ‘succumbed to pressure’Though Khan publicly stepped down on Tuesday, EC officials said that since the time for withdrawing nomination was over, the TMC candidate’s name will remain on EVMs. “The last date for withdrawal of candidature for the Falta bypoll was April 13. Ballot papers and EVM panels have been finalised,” an EC official said.TMC posted on X: “Since the election results were declared on May 4, more than 100 of our party workers have been arrested in Falta AC 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. Even in the face of such pressure, our workers remain rocksolid and continue to resist BJP’s intimidation unleashed through agencies and the administration. However, some eventually succumbed to the pressure and chose to step away from the field.” Following Khan’s exit, Congress and CPM have appealed to TMC voters to cast their votes for them to defeat BJP.(With inputs from Kaushik Pradhan)
