West Bengal elections: Falta residents protest against TMC's 'burn houses' threats as EC mulls repoll

Tensions rose in the Falta region of the South 24 Parganas constituency on Saturday, as residents took to the streets to protest against TMC workers threatening to "burn (people's) houses" if the party were not re-elected in the state.

Visuals from the scene showed hundreds of people, joined by BJP workers, take to the streets and protest against the TMC.

This high-stakes standoff between the TMC and the BJP comes just two days before May 4, the day the results of the 2026 Assembly elections will be declared.

"Locals say they won't move until all culprits are arrested," one user wrote on X, offering visuals from the civilian protest on the streets.

"TMC's Israfil Chowkidar has threatened us that if these people win, they will burn our houses here and carry out bloodshed," a local woman told ANI.

The name Israfil Chowkidar came up again when another local alleged that she had already voted for the TMC, but was still "attacked".

"We want him to be arrested. We need safety for women," she added.

Other visuals from the scene also show the presence of CAPF officers, who have been deployed across the state to keep order ahead of the May 4 counting day.

Officials from the CRPF and the RAF could also be seen, alongside an armoured vehicle stationed in the area as a precautionary measure.

The large number of locals present on the streets also complained to the officers about the TMC's threats. The officers are currently engaged in preventing violence on the streets as the area awaits a decision on the repolls.

Why is the EC mulling a repoll for Falta?

Despite the West Bengal elections taking place in two phases on April 23 and April 29, repolling had already been approved to take place on Saturday in 15 polling stations across two Assembly constituencies—Magrahat Paschim and Diamond Harbour.

This is because of the TMC's allegations of the BJP and the Election Commission (EC) working together to tamper with ballot boxes ahead of the May 4 counting date.

This led to tensions between workers of the two parties at two places housing EVM strongrooms in Kolkata—the Netaji Indoor Stadium and the Sakhawat Memorial School.

On the topic of why repolls have not yet been scheduled for Falta, West Bengal's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal explained that the place had a "large number of booths".

"Repoll is only done based on the assessment of the poll which has taken place. Assessment was done by the State General Observer and the team there; they have sent a report. Let us see what the status is," he pointed out.

"The difference between other areas and Falta is—in Diamond Harbour, (discrepancies were) found only in four places. In Magrahat, it was found in 11 places. But here, a large number of booths are there. That is why, EC has to take a decision based on the totality of the situation," he added.