Election Commission Orders Full Repoll in Falta Constituency

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has declared the April 29 vote in the Falta assembly constituency void and ordered a full repoll for May 21, 2026, citing severe electoral offenses and the subversion of the democratic process. The decision follows reports that at least 60 polling stations used black masking tape, ink, and perfume on EVM buttons to identify voters or prevent the selection of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate. The ECI also directed criminal cases against aides of Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Jahangir Khan for reported voter intimidation.

These events occurred during the second and final phase of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections, which saw a record overall voter turnout of approximately 92.5%. The process was marred by sporadic violence and technical failures, leading the ECI to conduct partial repolls at 15 booths in the Magrahat Paschim and Diamond Harbour constituencies on May 2. The BJP characterized the tampering as the Diamond Harbour Model, while the TMC dismissed the repoll demands as an attempt by the BJP to avoid defeat.

Ahead of the general vote counting on May 4, the TMC challenged the BJP and Union leadership to deploy all available resources to win Falta. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of India rejected a TMC appeal challenging the ECI's use of Central government and PSU employees as counting supervisors. To ensure transparency, the ECI deployed 432 counting observers and 77 police observers across the state's 294 constituencies.