bjp-button-on-evm-taped-in-falta-repolling-ordered

Falta, an Assembly seat within the Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency represented by Abhishek Banerjee, has become a significant flashpoint as the polls get underway. Tensions have hovered around Trinamool Congress candidate Jahangir Khan, a close aide to Banerjee, following a public confrontation with police observer Ajay Pal Sharma. Sharma’s stern warning to Khan and his family to ensure that voting remained undisturbed on the eve of the election had already set a combative tone for the day.  

The situation has only become worse with new claims of vote-rigging emerging. BJP’s Debangshu Panda has alleged that the Trinamool Congress is actively preventing voters from casting their ballots in his favour due to technical issues in EVMs. Footage circulating online appears to show tape placed over the buttons corresponding to the names of both the CPM and BJP candidates. While the CPM is yet to comment, Panda alleged that the buttons for his party were intentionally jammed in several booths to prevent voters from making their choice. The EC could now order repolling in the affected booths. State Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal has, reportedly, said that if more such incidents are reported, a repoll could be conducted across the entire constituency.

 

VIDEO | Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Election Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal says, “Repolling is likely in booths where EVMs were allegedly covered with tape or tampered with in any way…”#AssemblyPollsWithPTI#WestBengalPollsWithPTI

(Full video available on PTI Videos -… pic.twitter.com/NqPeg3rM5f

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 29, 2026

 

Amit Malaviya took to X to share these videos, sharply criticising Mamata Banerjee for defending Khan, whom he described as a "criminal". Malaviya alleged that this "Diamond Harbour model" of blocking opposition buttons with tape was the same tactic that facilitated Abhishek Banerjee’s own victory. He claimed that voters in multiple booths were being effectively disenfranchised by these physical obstructions on the machines.

 

This is what Mamata Banerjee was defending when she spoke up for Jehangir Khan, a criminal contesting on a TMC ticket from Falta in Diamond Harbour.

In several polling booths, the option to vote for the BJP has been blocked using a tape, effectively preventing voters from… pic.twitter.com/sKw3mcdA86

— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) April 29, 2026

 

Despite the gravity of these accusations, which Panda insists were designed to subvert a fair election, there has been no official confirmation of large-scale tampering as yet. The Commission has ordered an inquiry into the matter, categorising the complaints as serious and warning that a repoll will be mandated if the allegations of obscured candidate names are proven true.

While Malaviya specifically flagged booth 144, along with 170 and 189, as being compromised, sources suggest that the machines in question were functioning normally once the issues were raised.

 

Also read: BJP alleges voting irregularities in Falta, says tape on EVMs