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West Bengal Poll Observers Relieved Except for Falta Repoll

The Election Commission of India has relieved special poll observer Subrata Gupta and special police observer N.K. Mishra from their duties in West Bengal. However, the relief excludes the Falta Assembly constituency where repolling will be conducted on May 21. The Model Code of Conduct has been lifted for the rest of the state. Additionally, former Calcutta High Court Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam resigned from the Appellate Tribunal handling voter deletion cases.

Key Points: EC Relieves Bengal Poll Observers, Falta Repoll Set

  • EC relieves special observer Subrata Gupta and police observer N.K. Mishra
  • Repoll in Falta constituency on May 21
  • Model Code of Conduct lifted except for Falta
  • Former Calcutta HC Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam resigns from Appellate Tribunal
2 min read

EC relieves poll observers after Bengal polls, except Falta

EC relieves special poll observers in West Bengal after Assembly elections, except for Falta constituency where repoll is scheduled on May 21. Results on May 24.

"The Commission had already acknowledged the role of three officers behind this achievement - Chief Electoral Officer"

Kolkata, May 7

With West Bengal Assembly elections being over and the results being declared on May 4, except for Falta Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district, the Election Commission of India had relieved the special poll observer, Subrata Gupta, and the special police observer, N.K. Mishra, who was appointed by the Commission for the recently concluded polls in the state.

Both have been issued relief letters from their duties by the Commission on Thursday, confirmed an insider from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal.

The West Bengal Assembly elections of 2026 have been remarkable from various viewpoints, such as the peaceful polling in contrast to the state's history of electoral violence and an unprecedented voting percentage.

The Commission had already acknowledged the role of three officers behind this achievement, by three officials in the Chief Electoral Officer's office, who had discreetly overseen all operations as behind-the-scenes coordinators from start to finish.

While one of them is the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, the other two are Gupta and Mishra.

On Thursday, the Election Commission of India had also lifted the Model Code of Conduct for West Bengal except for the Falta Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district in the state, where re-polling will be conducted on May 21, and the results will be declared on May 24.

In fact, the counting of votes on May 4 was conducted for 293 of 294 Assembly constituencies in West Bengal except Falta. The Election Commission of India decided to conduct re-polling for the entire Falta, which went for polls in the second phase of the two-phase West Bengal Assembly elections on April 29, following complaints of massive electoral malpractices on the polling day.

Another major development on Thursday is that the former Calcutta High Court Chief Justice, T. S. Sivagnanam, who had been heading an Appellate Tribunal handling the cases of voters whose names were deleted in the judicial adjudication process of the special intensive revision in West Bengal, had resigned from that chair.

Justice Sivagnanam (retired) was also heading the three-member panel of retired judges of Calcutta High Court constituted by the Supreme Court to oversee the process of how the Appellate Tribunal constituted for the purpose would operate.

In his resignation letter, Justice Sivagnanam (retired) had cited personal reasons behind his decision.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

A
Ananya R. from Bengaluru
I'm from Karnataka but I've been following Bengal elections closely. The fact that 293 out of 294 seats had peaceful polling is a big achievement for Bengal, which has a history of violence. But why is there always some controversy? The Falta re-poll and the judge resigning... it's like the state can never catch a break. 😒
J
James A. from New Delhi
Interesting that the EC has lifted the model code except in Falta. That suggests the re-poll complaints are serious. But a retired judge resigning mid-process because of "personal reasons" - that's usually a euphemism for something else. Transparency is key here. Let's see how the EC handles this one.
V
Vikram M. from Mumbai
Yaar, I get the relief for observers after polls, but why did Justice Sivagnanam resign? That's a big blow to the credibility of the process. In a state with so much history of electoral violence, we need all checks in place. The EC should clarify if there's any issue. The people of Bengal deserve better.
K
Kavya N. from Chennai
Kudos to Manoj Kumar Agarwal and his team for managing such a huge election! But having to do a complete re-poll in Falta sends a bad signal. And now this resignation - makes you wonder. The EC must appoint a replacement quickly and ensure the re-poll is fully transparent. The country is watching.
D
Divya L. from Hyderabad
Hmm, the EC relieved the observers but Falta still hangs in balance. And a retired judge resigning from a key panel... something smells fishy. Personal reasons?

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