TMC alleges intimidation by BJP after Jahangir Khan withdraws before repoll fray

Kolkata: Trinamool Congress candidate for Falta in West Bengal, Jahangir Khan, withdrew from the contest two days before repolling in the constituency, even as Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari led a ‘roadshow’ in support of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the area and termed the response of the local people as “second independence for the Sanatanis”.

Falta, a stronghold of the TMC since 2011, had gone to the polls along with other constituencies in the second phase of voting in the West Bengal Assembly elections. The Election Commission, however, had declared the polling void in view of alleged irregularities in a large number of booths and set May 21 as the date for repolling.

“I am a son of the soil of Falta, and I want peace and development in the area,” Khan told a press conference on Tuesday. “The chief minister (Adhikari) has announced a special package for the development of Falta. That is why I have decided to withdraw from the electoral contest in the constituency.”

The TMC, however, dissociated itself from Khan’s decision to exit the contest in Falta, alleging that the party’s workers in the constituency had faced intimidation by the BJP since the results of the Assembly elections had been declared on May 4.

“He chose to run away, as he was unlikely to get even polling agents for the majority of the booths in Falta,” said Adhikari, while campaigning for Debangshu Panda, the BJP’s candidate in the constituency.

The BJP had replaced the TMC in power after a landslide victory in the West Bengal assembly polls. The saffron party had won in 207 of the 293 constituencies, where votes polled on April 23 and 29 had been counted on May 4.

If Panda wins, the BJP’s tally in the 294-member West Bengal legislative assembly would go up to 208. The TMC had won 80 seats.

Adhikari beat TMC supremo and former chief minister Mamata Banerjee in Bhabanipur in Kolkata and took over as the chief minister of the state’s new BJP government on May 9.

“In my over 30 years in politics, this is the most overwhelming experience,” Adhikari said on Tuesday, commenting on the crowd of the BJP supporters who turned up during a ‘roadshow’ he led in Falta to seek votes for Panda. The “huge turn-out” for the BJP roadshow had reflected the “second independence for the Sanatanis”, who had long been subjected to repression, he said, hitting out at the TMC, which had been accused by the saffron party of pursuing a policy of appeasing the Muslims and disregarding the interests of the Hindus.

The Hindus constitute nearly 66 per cent of the electorate in Falta, while the Muslims accounted for about 33 per cent.

Falta is one of the assembly segments of the Diamond Harbour parliamentary constituency, which has elected Abhishek Banerjee, the general secretary and the de facto Numero Due of the TMC, thrice since 2014. Khan has so far been known as a close associate of Abhishek.

“Since the election results were declared on May 4, more than 100 of our party workers have been arrested only in Falta. 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 TMC alleged on X after Khan declared his decision to exit the contest, adding that the party’s workers had continued to resist the BJP’s intimidation unleashed through “the agencies and the administration”.

“However,” the TMC posted on X, “some eventually succumbed to the pressure and chose to step away from the field.”