The Communist Party of India (Marxist) is enthused by the results of the re-poll in the Falta assembly constituency, where the party’s candidate Sambhu Nath Kurmi secured the runner-up slot.

The BJP candidate Debangshu Panda won the election by over 1.09 lakh votes, securing about 71.2% of the total votes polled. Mr. Kurmi received 40,625 votes, securing 19.34% of the total votes.

The CPI(M) secured only 4.45% of the votes in the West Bengal Assembly elections in 2026 and won only one seat – Domkal in Murshidabad district. The Falta re-poll saw the vote share of the CPI(M) candidate increase four times.

Enthused with the outcome at Falta, CPI(M) state secretary Md. Salim said the Trinamool Congress is “melting faster than ice” in this summer heat.

“This result is a reflection of the CPI(M)’s standing with the poor and marginalised,” he said. Mr. Salim dubbed Trinamool a front of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which prevented people from exercising their democratic rights. “As democracy is restored and people express themselves freely, there will be a revival of the Left,” he said.

TMC withdraws

Two days before the re-polling at Falta on May 21, Trinamool Congress candidate Jahangir Khan withdrew from the contest. Despite officially withdrawing, the Trinamool nominee remained part of the contest and secured 7,783 votes.

Congress candidate Abdur Razzak Molla also secured 10,084 votes. Re-polling was ordered at Falta after allegations of electoral malpractice during conduct of voting in the second phase of the West Bengal assembly elections on April 29.

With the BJP storming to power in West Bengal, electoral discussions are now about who will occupy the Opposition space. The Trinamool Congress has 80 MLAs in the State Assembly, but the party’s leadership appears to be in a state of shock and has been unable to stand with party workers.

Desertions in TMC ranks

More than 70 local level leaders of the Trinamool Congress have been arrested in the past 20 days. Trinamool Congress councillors from several municipalities are resigning en masse. On Monday, eight councillors of the Trinamool Congress from Diamond Harbour municipality, a TMC stronghold, resigned.

The CPI(M) sees the situation as an opportunity to occupy the Opposition space. Over the past several years Mr. Salim and the other leaders of the CPI(M) have said that the real contest is between the Left and the Right, and the Trinamool Congress was a “special purpose vehicle created” solely to fight the Left.

Political experts, however, say it is too early to say who will emerge as the Opposition to the BJP. “It will depend on whether the attacks on the Trinamool Congress rank and file continue in the next few months,” a CPI(M) leader said.