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The biggest news of this time is coming out from the politics of West Bengal. After Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee lost the Bhawanipur seat, Trinamool Congress (TMC) is now on the verge of losing its another strongest fort ‘Phalta’. Phalta assembly constituency was considered to be such an impenetrable stronghold of TMC, where the opposition did not even dare to set foot. The area falls under Diamond Harbour, the parliamentary constituency of TMC national general secretary and MP Abhishek Banerjee. But now the situation has completely changed in Phulta. The strongman Jahangir Khan, who was once known as the uncrowned king of politics here, has disappeared leaving the election field at the last moment, after which the very existence of the party in this TMC stronghold is in danger.
Phalta’s political picture changed within a few days
On April 29, when the second phase of voting was going on in West Bengal, only TMC flags, banners and aggressive workers were visible in every corner of the constituency. But within just a few days, the pictures and political equations here have changed 180 degrees.
According to media reports (The Telegraph), TMC flags have completely disappeared from the roads and intersections of Phalta assembly constituency and in their place flags of opposition parties are now flying. It is no less than a surprise for the local people to see that today not even a flag of the ruling party is visible in the phalta where Abhishek Banerjee’s coin once used to run.
Bahubali Jahangir Khan remained missing even on the day of voting, only name left on EVM
In fact, the biggest reason for the plight of TMC is the sudden retreat of its strong leader Jahangir Khan. Jahangir Khan was considered very close to MP Abhishek Banerjee and the main pillar of TMC in this area. Due to the influence of Jahangir Khan in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, TMC got more than 89 percent unilateral votes from this area.
But this time the tables turned. Jahangir Khan suddenly decided to withdraw from the election. Although technically his name remained registered on the EVM, at the ground level he was completely absent from the elections. According to the report, even on the day of re-polling on Thursday, Jahangir Khan was nowhere to be seen in the area. Local people say that he was last seen on Tuesday, when he had announced to quit the elections. While doing damage control on this entire incident, TMC has shrugged it off by calling it a ‘personal decision’ of Jahangir Khan.
Bumper re-voting in Phalta after perfume and tape scandal
Let us tell you that re-polling was conducted in Phalta on Thursday. A huge controversy had arisen during the early voting held on 29 April. There were serious complaints from many polling stations that something like perfume had been sprayed on the EVMs and adhesive tape had been applied on certain buttons so as to affect the fair voting. After this rigging, the Election Commission took a tough stand and conducted the re-polling peacefully amidst heavy deployment of central forces. The public participated enthusiastically in this re-voting and a bumper turnout of more than 86 percent was recorded.
TMC out of race, now direct competition between BJP and Left
After Jahangir Khan’s withdrawal from the field, TMC’s claim and hold on the Phalta seat has completely ended. In such a situation, now the main contest on this seat is being considered between Debangshu Panda of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shambhunath Kurmi of Marxist Communist Party (CPM). At the same time, Abdur Razzaq Mollah from Congress is also trying his luck in the election field. Political analysts believe that BJP or Left can directly benefit from this fragmentation in TMC’s vote bank.
After Bhawanipur and Nandigram, another big blow to Didi
Ultimately, this condition of TMC is a big blow for party supremo Mamata Banerjee. Earlier, in the results declared on May 4, Mamata Banerjee had to face a shameful defeat from her traditional Bhawanipur seat. He was defeated by the incumbent Subhendu Adhikari by more than 15 thousand votes. Let us remind you that earlier also in the historic assembly elections of 2021, Shubhendu Adhikari had defeated Mamata Banerjee from Nandigram seat. After Bhawanipur, the loss of a safe stronghold like Falta is a clear indication that TMC’s political hold on the land of West Bengal is now loosening.