Peaceful Falta repoll sees brisk turnout as voters say they can ‘vote without fear’

The repoll for the Falta assembly constituency in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district witnessed a peaceful start on Thursday, with voter turnout touching 20.47 per cent within the first two hours of polling till 9 am.

No incidents of violence, tension, or electoral malpractice were reported from any of the 285 polling booths across the constituency, officials said.

Long queues of voters were seen outside polling stations from early morning, with residents braving the scorching summer heat to cast their ballots in the high-stakes repoll ordered by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The atmosphere in the constituency appeared markedly different from the earlier polling phase held on 29 April, which was marred by allegations of electoral irregularities and intimidation.

The Trinamool Congress candidate, Jahangir Khan, who announced his withdrawal from the contest last week, remained largely absent from the political landscape on polling day. The party had no visible polling agents at booths, and no temporary Trinamool camp offices were seen functioning in the constituency.

The shutters of Khan’s main party office, once considered the nerve centre of his political influence in Falta, remained locked. Khan himself was reportedly not present at his residence in the Srirampur area.

Despite his withdrawal announcement, Khan’s name continued to appear on EVMs as the deadline for officially withdrawing candidature had already passed.

Meanwhile, polling agents and temporary camps of the BJP, CPI(M), and Congress were active across the constituency, operating within the limits prescribed by the ECI.

Several voters claimed they had been unable to vote freely in elections held after 2011 and credited the heavy security deployment for the peaceful atmosphere this time.

“My entire family has traditionally supported the Trinamool Congress. But even then, we were not allowed to vote in elections after 2011. This time we are voting without fear because of the security arrangements,” a voter waiting in queue told reporters.

A total of 35 companies of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) have been deployed for the repoll — an unusually large deployment for a single assembly constituency — ensuring strict security at all polling booths.

With IANS inputs