Kolkata:
Trinamool strongman Jahangir Khan has been arrested from the India-Nepal border in West Bengal, over a month after elections that saw his party lose power after 15 years.
He was picked up by the West Bengal Special Task Force (STF) after the Calcutta High Court refused to extend his interim protection, stating that five police cases had been filed against him after the election results were declared on May 4.
Khan, who branded himself as the local ‘Pushpa’ after the Telugu action thriller, had been on the radar of law enforcement officers over alleged threats and election fraud attempts.
A candidate from the Falta constituency, which went for a repoll on May 21 over voting machine tampering charges, Khan had pulled out of the contest just days before the re-election. The BJP won the seat by a record margin that added to its majority tally, while Khan went incommunicado by locking his office.
Singham vs Pushpa
Khan is a close aide Abhishek Banerjee, the all-powerful nephew of Mamata Banerjee and an MP from South 24 Paraganas’ Diamond Harbour. Falta is located within his constituency.
Once a candidate from here, Khan had left no stone unturned to establish what many villagers claim was a reign of terror.
This drew the attention of Ajay Pal Sharma, an IPS officer of UP cadre who had been posted in Falta as a special observer, more so because of his ‘Singham’ image. An encounter specialist, Sharma immediately reached Khan’s locality and issued a stern warning to the potential troublemakers.
Khan hit back, branding himself as Pushpa, after the movie character who smuggled sandalwood for a living.
The Falta Twist
Voting for the second phase of assembly elections started as usual on April 29. As time went by, allegations started pouring in that the button to vote for BJP on EVMs had been taped. There were allegations of other irregularities as well. Taking note of the charges, the Election Commission stopped voting and ordered a re-election on May 21.
By the time that day arrived, the overall state results were out, and the BJP had already formed its government in Bengal. A twist, however, was still in the making. On May 19, Khan backed out of the Falta contest, stating that Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari had promised a special package for the people of the state.
“It is for this reason that I am withdrawing my nomination. I have withdrawn my candidature in the interest of Falta’s development and peace,” he stressed. He skipped voting too.
The Trinamool distanced itself from Khan’s decision and slammed “intimidation by the BJP”.
The counting was taken up three days later. BJP candidate Debangshu Panda defeated his nearest rival, CPM’s Sambhu Nath Kurmi, by over a lakh votes to win the seat, while Khan recorded fewer than 8,000 votes—a distant fourth.
