West Bengal polls: EC scraps Falta election, orders repolling on May 21

Bengal’s electoral result volition present beryllium decided connected 293 seats aft EC cancelled Saturday the April 29 polling successful southbound Kolkata’s Falta constituency, citing “electoral offences and subversion of the antiauthoritarian process”.A repoll has been scheduled for May 21, with counting connected May 24.This is archetypal clip successful Bengal wherever a afloat assembly constituency volition spell to the polls aft the declaration of results. In India, lone Bihar had the precedence. EC said an enquiry into complaints recovered wide tampering of EVMs astatine aggregate booths.EC: Button tampering voids Falta mandateButtons were defaced with achromatic masking portion and ink, affecting 60 of 285 polling stations — 21% of the constituency.

These booths accounted for 53,967 voters (22.8% of the 2.36 lakh electorate).“This compromised the integrity of recorded votes and made it intolerable to ascertain the mandate,” EC said, adding gaps successful video footage meant akin tampering elsewhere successful Falta could not beryllium ruled out.Tension flared Saturday successful Hasimnagar, a locality wrong Falta on the Hooghly stream corridor, wherever villagers alleged threats from associates of TMC campaigner Jahangir Khan.

Police perceiver Ajaypal Sharma, a DIG overseeing Diamond Harbour subdivision connected the city’s confederate fringe, rushed to the country arsenic residents complained of inaction.Security was stepped up with deployment of authorities constabulary and cardinal forces. EC aboriginal ordered the apprehension of 2 of Khan’s aides, Izrafil Chokdar and Sujauddin Sheikh. The countermanding removes Falta from Monday’s count, tightening absorption connected the remaining seats that volition find the adjacent govt.