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Published : 06 May 2026, 01:07 AM
In a contest shaped unusually by the electoral register itself, Congress candidate Motab Shaikh has emerged victorious in Farakka, months after being struck off the voter list and later restored by judicial intervention.
Shaikh defeated Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Sudhir Chowdhuri by more than 8,000 votes in Murshidabad district on Monday, according to Scroll.in.
His candidature had earlier been thrown into uncertainty after his name was deleted from the voter list during the revision process.
That decision was subsequently overturned by an appellate tribunal in Kolkata, which directed the Election Commission to restore his status as a valid voter and include him through an additional list.
According to the digital-only news outlet based in India, the tribunal’s Apr 5 ruling was its first adjudication since being set up to examine challenges arising from the electoral roll revision in West Bengal.
The order, issued by retired Calcutta High Court Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam, noted that the Election Commission had cited “technical reasons” without clearly explaining the basis for Shaikh’s removal, the report said.
The tribunal also observed that Shaikh’s passport provided adequate proof of identity and that no discrepancy existed in his father’s name across official records, it added.
In a similar case reported by Scroll.in, Congress candidate Mohammad Mottakin Alam was also reinstated after objections over alleged inconsistencies in age and parentage were dismissed by the tribunal.
Alam, however, finished third in Ratua, while the Trinamool Congress candidate secured a decisive victory there.
The elections followed a large-scale revision of electoral rolls by the Election Commission.
By Apr 6, around 9.1 million names -- nearly 11.9 percent of the electorate before the exercise -- had been removed. Multiple appeals against deletions remain pending before tribunals across the state.
The broader election outcome saw the Bharatiya Janata Party win 206 seats in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly, ending 15 years of Trinamool Congress rule.
The TMC secured 80 seats and led in one constituency, according to Election Commission data.
Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister, lost the Bhabanipur seat to BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari by more than 15,000 votes.
Repolling has been ordered in Falta constituency following alleged electoral irregularities, with voting scheduled for May 21 and counting set for May 24.
