West Bengal polls: Election Commission cancels Falta elections, orders re-poll on May 21

A re-ballot is scheduled for May 21, with a deadline of May 24.

This is the first time Bengal has held general constituency voting after the results were announced. In India, only Bihar has priority. The EC said investigation into the complaint revealed widespread tampering of EVMs at several stalls.

EC: Button tampering invalidates Falta authorization

Buttons were defaced with black tape and ink, affecting 60 of 285 polling stations – 21 per cent of the precincts.There were 53,967 voters in these polling stations (22.8% of the 236,000 voters). “This compromises the integrity of the recorded votes and makes it impossible to establish authorization,” the EC said, adding that gaps in the video footage meant similar tampering could not be ruled out elsewhere in Falta. Tensions in Hasim Nagar, an area along the Hooghly river corridor in Falta, rose on Saturday with local villagers claiming threats from Falta. Associate of TMC candidate Jahangir Khan.Ajaypal Sharma, a police observer who oversees the Diamond Harbor subdivision on the city’s southern edge, rushed to the area as residents complained about the inaction.Deployment of state police and central forces have beefed up security. The EC later ordered the arrest of two of Khan’s aides, Izrafil Chokdar and Sujauddin Sheikh. The revocation order removes Falta from Monday’s count, putting more focus on the remaining seats that will determine the next government.