Trinamool Congress candidate for Falta Assembly seat Jahangir Khan withdraws from contest

Trinamool Congress candidate from the Falta Assembly seat, Jahangir Khan, on Tuesday (May 19, 2026) announced his withdrawal from the electoral contest ahead of the re-polling scheduled for May 21 in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district.

“Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has announced a special package for the development of Falta. In the interest of Falta’s development, I am withdrawing from this election,” Mr. Khan said, addressing a press conference on Tuesday morning.

Although the official deadline for withdrawal of candidature or nominations has passed, the name and party symbol of the Trinamool Congress candidate will remain on the EVM even if Mr. Khan does not contest.

A Trinamool Congress statement said that the decision taken by Mr. Khan was his personal choice and not that of the party.

“We strongly condemn this. Our fight against the Bangla Birodhi BJP will continue—both in West Bengal and in Delhi,” the party said.

According to the Trinamool Congress, since the election results were declared on May 4, more than 100 of our party workers have been arrested in the Falta Assembly constituency alone.

“Several party offices have been vandalised, shut down and forcibly captured in broad daylight through intimidation, while the EC continues to turn a blind eye despite repeated complaints. Even in the face of such pressure, our workers remain rock-solid and continue to resist the BJP’s intimidation unleashed through agencies and the administration. However, some eventually succumbed to the pressure and chose to step away from the field,” the party statement said.

The withdrawal announcement came on the final day of campaigning, when Mr. Adhikari was holding a roadshow in the area in support of BJP candidate Debangshu Panda. Mr. Adhikari said that the decision by the Trinamool Congress candidate was because he was certain of defeat.

Polling for the Falta Assembly seat was held in the second phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections on April 29. After large-scale irregularities were reported, the Election Commission ordered re-polling in the constituency on May 21.

After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won the 2026 Assembly polls, bagging 207 of the 294 seats, the Falta re-polling will have no bearing on the newly elected BJP government. However, the constituency has become a prestige battle for the BJP leadership.

State BJP president Samik Bhattacharya and Mr. Adhikari have campaigned for the BJP candidate. From the Trinamool Congress side, neither party chairperson Mamata Banerjee nor party general secretary Abhishek Banerjee campaigned for Mr Khan.

During campaigning for the recently concluded Assembly polls, Mr. Khan had made the headlines following a verbal exchange with IPS officer Ajay Pal Sharma. Mr. Sharma, who earned the moniker “Singham” for tough policing, had allegedly threatened a family member of Mr. Khan during the campaign. The Trinamool leader responded, “This is Bengal; if he is ‘Singham’, I am ‘Pushpa’.”