A major political row erupted between the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress on Sunday after BJP’s Dibangshu Panda registered a comfortable win in West Bengal’s Valta constituency, where re-polls were held on May 21.
Panda won by more than 1 lakh votes While CPI (Maoist)’s Sambo Nath Kurmi got 40,645 votes and Congress’ Abdul Razzaq Molla got only 10,084 votes. All this after the TMC candidate withdrew from the competition before the elections.
After the results were announced, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee sought clarification from the Election Commission on the timing of counting of votes in Valta constituency. He alleged that on May 4, when the West Bengal Assembly election results were announced, only 2-4 rounds were completed till 3:30 pm. In contrast, all 21 rounds of counting had been conducted in Valta on Sunday by then.
Read also: Who is Dibangshu Panda? The BJP leader who swept the re-poll in Valta in Bengal by over 1 lakh votes
“Today’s recount of VALTA polls reveals glaring discrepancies. By 3:30 pm today, all 21 rounds have been completed. On May 4th, as of the same time, only 2-4 rounds have taken place. The country deserves an explanation from the Election Commission of India,” he wrote in a post on X.
He also accused the Election Commission of “turning a blind eye” to the situation in West Bengal, claiming that more than 1,000 workers from Valta were forced to flee their homes in the last 10 days. He further alleged that the party offices were vandalized in broad daylight even while the Model Code of Conduct was in force.
Read also: Valtha elections in Bengal: How Trinamul’s Jehangir Khan, who withdrew before the re-poll, got 3.7% of the votes
“Even though more than 1,000 workers from Falta have had to flee their homes in the past 10 days, the Election Commission continues to turn a blind eye. Party offices were vandalized in broad daylight even when the Model Code of Conduct was in force.”
“The Electoral Commission took no action. Instead, the CEO, who was allegedly used by the EEC to delete names under the guise of SIR and manipulate the electoral process, was appointed First Secretary of the new World Bank Government at a time when the Model Code of Conduct was still in force in Valta and the polling process had not yet been completed.”
Terming the matter “worrying”, he further alleged that agents of Trinamool and other political parties, except the BJP, were evicted from the venue on May 4 by officials and central forces deployed under the Election Commission of India.
He added: “This is deeply concerning and strikes at the heart of free and fair elections. Unless the officials involved are held accountable and an independent CCTV audit of the counting process is conducted, questions about the credibility of the mandate will only grow stronger.”
“Just the beginning of the rejection,” says Suvendu Adhikari after TMC’s loss in Valta
However, Banerjee was not the only business statement on social media platform X. West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari also made sharp comments.
Without naming anyone in office, Adhikari said the party, “devoid of principles and ideology, which has turned into a mafia corporation”, had its “structural condition exposed” after losing power. By misusing state machinery, the party has plundered public funds, extorted people’s hard-earned money, raised money through unions and a culture of threats, he alleged, adding that its leaders have come to treat the state as their fiefdom.
Accusing the TMC of “stifling democracy”, Adhikari said there was no crime “that this con artist did not orchestrate” under the title of “leader”.
“As a result, Trinamool turned the previous elections into a farce, leading by one and a half thousand votes in this Assembly segment. Fifteen years later, when people regained the freedom to cast their own votes, the real truth came to light.”
He added that this is “just the beginning” of the rejection and that the TMC faces a difficult battle against NOTA in the elections.
“This is just the beginning; now we have to go through the long journey of rejection. The All India Trinamool Congress has already been defeated even by NOTA in the Tripura Assembly elections. The people of West Bengal are waiting to witness this fierce battle in West Bengal in the coming days…”
A re-poll was held in all 285 booths in Valta constituency after voting in the South 24 Parganas seat was canceled on April 29 due to allegations of EVM manipulation and other irregularities. Two days before the results were due to be announced, the Independent Electoral Commission ordered a new re-poll in the constituency, which was held on 21 May.
More than 87 percent of the district’s 2.36 thousand voters participated in the re-poll. To ensure that the polling process is conducted smoothly, the EC has significantly enhanced security measures and deployed around 35 companies of central forces across the electoral district.
With this victory, the number of BJP seats in the House of Representatives increases to 208.
