Bengal: BJP leading by over 14,000 votes after 5 rounds of counting in Falta repoll

KOLKATA: (May 24) BJP’s Debangshu Panda raced ahead of his nearest CPI(M) rival by over 14,000 votes, after the fifth round of counting on Sunday in the repoll to West Bengal's Falta assembly constituency, according to the Election Commission.

After five of the 21 counting rounds, Panda bagged 30,562 votes, opening up a lead of 14,514 votes over CPI(M) candidate Sambhu Nath Kurmi, who polled 16,048 votes.

Trinamool Congress nominee Jahangir Khan, who had announced two days before the repoll that he would not contest and described it as a personal decision, trailed in the fourth place with 1,685 votes.