Kolkata . Police arrested Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Jahangir Khan on Monday. This Trinamool leader from Falta area of Diamond Harbor in South 24 Parganas district was arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) of West Bengal Police from Nepal Border. According to the police, he is being arrested and brought to Kolkata. Police also said that Jahangir was trying to escape from Bengal through Nepal border. After receiving secret information, STF officials reached there. Trinamool’s defeated candidate from Falta assembly constituency was also arrested. Re-election was held in Falta assembly constituency on 21 May. Jahangir had withdrawn his name from the electoral contest 48 hours before the elections. In a press conference, he had said, “My dream was of a ‘golden Falta’. Our Chief Minister (Suvendu Adhikari) is giving a special package for the development of Falta. That is why I had distanced myself from the re-election contest held on May 21.”
Although he had withdrawn from the contest 48 hours before the election, Jahangir’s name was present next to the Trinamool election symbol on the EVM. When the election results were declared on 24 May, it was revealed that the BJP won by more than 1.09 lakh votes. CPI(M) stood second with over 40,000 votes. Jahangir stood fourth with 7,783 votes. He was almost missing since the election results were declared. He was neither seen at home nor in the party office.
A case was registered against Jahangir in 2019. In that case, this Trinamool leader from Falta, who is considered close to Trinamool general secretary Abhishek Banerjee, had got protection from the High Court from any strict action against him. Apart from this, Trinamool candidate Jahangir got another protection from the High Court before the re-election in Falta Assembly. But on May 26, the Calcutta High Court withdrew all the protection given to him. After this, there was no legal obstacle for the police to arrest him.
The last phase of assembly elections in the state was held on April 29. That day, there were allegations of irregularities at many booths in Falta assembly constituency. The Commission had received complaints about use of perfume, ink and tape on EVMs. Suvendu Adhikari himself had demanded re-election. Adhikari, the then leader of the opposition, had said that after getting information about the incidents, he felt that the Commission should conduct re-polling in that constituency. After this the Commission decided to hold re-elections. Then on May 4, the results of the remaining 293 seats were declared. BJP came to power in the state for the first time with an overwhelming majority.
The politics of the state had heated up over the famous dialogue ‘Jhukega Nahi’ from Jahangir’s blockbuster film ‘Pushpa: The Rise’. Before the by-election, central forces and police had raided Jahangir’s house. The action was led by Ajay Pal Sharma, additional police commissioner of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh and one of the police supervisors in West Bengal. After this incident, Trinamool had raised questions on the authority of the police observer. Jahangir had said that if that police officer is a ‘lion’, then he is also a ‘pushpa’. They will not bow down to the alleged biased behavior of the Election Commission.
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