Orange alert as rain leaves Gurugram waterlogged; disrupts traffic The Sector 52A market was among the most affected areas, with visuals showing commuters wading through knee-deep water Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 14:14:38 IST By Sampurna Panigrahi, Mihika Shah
‘Buy buy buy!’: Foreign tourist reacts to duty-free shopping after Delhi immigration A foreign tourist has posted a video of his Delhi airport experience, questioning the shopping pitches he encountered just after immigration. Published on: Aug 24, 2026
India security chief visits China for border talks India security chief visits China for border talks Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 14:06:38 IST AFP Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link India's top security official arrived in Beijing on Monday for talks on the countries' disputed Himalayan border
Twenty-one former international cricket captains, including India’s Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar, on Sunday urged Pakistan to ensure that former Prime Minister Imran Khan is examined by a medical board, as directed by the country’s Supreme Court, The Hindu reported
A 25-year-old entrepreneur with a net worth of around ₹4.35 crore has turned to Reddit for advice after a sharp decline in the business that helped him build his fortune. Despite his wealth, he says he is now unsure about what to do next and feels “completely lost
Not a chief guests, celebrity or VIP, but a humanoid robot stole the spotlight at a sandwich shop inauguration. A video from the celebratory event has gone viral, where the robot was seen arriving at the venue with bodyguards. It then proceeded to greet guests and even broke into a dance
‘Jo bhi hai, tera ghar hai’: American compares Indian and US hospitality An American Hindi speaker’s take on Indian hospitality has viewers discussing the differences between socialising in India and the US. Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 13:31:09 IST By Vaishali Kapila Prefer HTon Google Share
Manipur: 1 CRPF personnel injured, 2 houses burnt by unknown armed individuals The gunfight broke out after two houses belonging to separate communities were set ablaze by an unidentified group of people Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 13:49:38 IST By Thomas Ngangom
Falta To Vote For Third Time On May 21
Falta To Vote For Third Time On May 21: How Repoll Exposes Faultlines In Bengal’s ‘Diamond Harbour Model’
Bengal elections: On May 21, when Falta votes for the third time, the outcome will matter. But more than that, the process will be watched closely
The third round of voting in Falta, in Bengal’s Diamond Harbour, scheduled for May 21, is unprecedented, even by the standards of a state long accustomed to charged polling conditions.
The Election Commission’s order for a repoll across all 285 polling stations, citing a ‘failure of the democratic process’, has punctured the political aura of inevitability. The infamously known ‘Diamond Harbour’ model has long defined this belt of South 24 Parganas. What was earlier projected as a model of electoral efficiency in Diamond Harbour now stands exposed to a harsher audit.
Falta is not an outlier. It sits inside a political ecosystem that has, over the years, perfected demographic, organisational and administrative control. The so-called ‘Diamond Harbour model’ rests on a layered advantage — a consolidated support base, primarily of Muslim voters, deep booth-level networks, and a political culture where outcomes often appear pre-determined. The repoll, however, suggests that the system may have overreached.
The Diamond Harbour model has often been described by political experts as a political command structure that ensures booth-level management with precision. It blends cadre presence, administrative familiarity, intimidation of voters and localised influence into a seamless apparatus. But Falta suggests that when such a system is pushed to its extremes, it begins to cannibalise the very process it seeks to dominate. The villagers revolting here and filing complaints is one of its kind events in the region, as earlier the question has always been — who dares and how dare they?
What is particularly striking is the timeline. By early afternoon, a significant portion of voting had already been recorded, even as complaints were still being received by the commission, while a violent clash was underway. The speed of polling, in this context, raises uncomfortable questions too. Was participation being accelerated, or manufactured?
The ECI’s decision to order a full repoll is both corrective and indicting. It acknowledges that the integrity of the vote was not just compromised in pockets but rendered unreliable at scale.
In Diamond Harbour, the Trinamool Congress begins with a structural edge. Roughly 38 to 40 per cent of the electorate is Muslim — a community that is primarily concentrated in assembly seats like Falta, Diamond Harbour, Metiaburuz, Maheshtala and Budge Budge — has traditionally formed the party’s core vote base here. Diamond Harbour, the Lok Sabha seat, is the one where Trinamool Congress national general secretary and chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek has been a third-term MP since 2014.
Every election, the margin doubled and tripled. Diamond Harbour is a part of South 24 Parganas district. Across South 24 Parganas district’s 31 assembly constituencies, at least 17 have over 30 per cent Muslim population, with seven crossing the 45 per cent mark. This is not just demography, it is electoral insurance and a party’s political nuance.
The numbers tell a story of consolidation. Since 2009, the district has remained firmly in Trinamool’s grip. In Diamond Harbour, that grip has only tightened, from a margin of around 70,000 votes in 2014 to nearly 3.5 lakh in 2019, and an emphatic 7.11 lakh in 2024 under Abhishek Banerjee. The party controls all seven assembly segments within the constituency — Falta, Satgachia, Bishnupur, Budge Budge, Maheshtala, Metiaburuz and Diamond Harbour — and virtually the entire panchayat structure after the 2023 rural polls.
This is what makes Falta significant. When a system with such numerical and organisational certainty begins to be exposed by people who protested on May 2 during the repoll, the issue is about political credibility.
The allegations emerging from Falta, including masked ballot buttons, missing video footage, unauthorised entry into voting compartments, and companion voting, point to something more entrenched than sporadic malpractice. They suggest a pattern where control at the booth level risks mutating into exclusion.
This is where the political narrative intersects with lived experience. Even among sections seen as part of the ruling party’s support base, there have been long-standing murmurs about restricted access to voting, localised pressure, and an informal economy of “cuts” linked to welfare schemes. In areas that are partly industrial like Falta, Budge Budge and Metiaburuz, with their chemical units, hosiery clusters and jute mills, the rural hinterland still dictates electoral outcomes. And in these rural pockets, power is often negotiated not just through ballots, but through proximity to local structures.
The controversy has now climbed up the chain. Trinamool’s Falta candidate Jahangir Khan has been accused by ECI Police Observer Ajay Pal Sharma of intimidating voters, an allegation that shifts the focus from anonymous booth-level actors to identifiable political accountability. Coupled with claims from sections of Hindu voters that they were prevented from exercising their franchise, the Falta episode expands beyond irregularities into questions of access and fear.
According to the ECI report, the missing or compromised video records only deepen the opacity. Surveillance, meant to guarantee transparency, appears unreliable, leaving the process harder to verify and easier to contest.
There is an irony here that the region’s own history underlines. Diamond Harbour, once Hajipur, carried the imprint of Portuguese incursions; the term ‘harmad’, now political shorthand in Bengal for armed political cadre, is believed to have originated from ‘armada’.
The word was once used by Mamata Banerjee to describe her opponents. Today, it echoes back in the Opposition’s description of Trinamool’s ground machinery.
Falta’s repoll is, therefore, more than a rerun. It is a stress test of a political model that has delivered dominance but is now being questioned for the means it employs.
On May 21, when Falta votes for the third time, the outcome will matter. But more than that, the process will be watched closely, sceptically, and perhaps, for the first time in years, without the assumption that the result is already known.
Source: News18.com
Related Posts: Latest News
No need to panic over H1N1 surge in K'taka: Minister Khader No need to panic over H1N1 surge in K'taka: Minister Khader Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 13:51:09 IST PTI Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Bengaluru, Karnataka Health Minister U T Khader on Monday assured the public that there was no
8 hours ago
‘You endorse misogyny, cut the crap’: Shehzad Poonawalla joins BJP attack on Rahul Gandhi's ‘smash patriarchy’ call Shehzad Poonawalla and BJP were responding to Rahul Gandhi's call to "smash the patriarchy" during his party's 'Chhatro ki Goonj' programme in Pune. Updated on: Aug 24, 2026
11 hours ago
For Delhi-NCR residents, Guleria struck a reassuring note while explaining why this year’s wave has felt worse, but citizens need not panic The H1N1 virus driving Delhi-NCR’s current flu surge appears to be changing its structure — a process that is making it spread faster and slip past the
11 hours ago
A job applicant’s unusual rejection from a software engineering internship has left the internet divided after the candidate was reportedly turned down over the name of their resume file. The incident was highlighted in a now-viral post on X by user @adnaannasir_
11 hours ago
Elderly woman killed, husband injured in SUV hit-and-run at Delhi's posh GK-1 The woman, identified as Shashi, was declared brought dead at the hospital, while her husband Kulbhushan (65), was left injured. Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 11:00:26 IST By HT News Desk Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy
11 hours ago
Woman reflects on high-rise living in big cities: ‘Even the slice of the sky is fixed for us’ A woman shared her thoughts on high-rise life, saying big-city living can feel confined despite better work opportunities. Published on: Aug 24, 2026
11 hours ago
Governor Abdullah Sarhadi gives money to treat a boy's broken arm and hands out funds for a local mosque - then, in his office in northern Afghanistan, an astonishing exchange unfolds. A young woman tells the grey-bearded former Taliban commander that she wants to divorce her husband
11 hours ago
Andy Burnham is marking his first foreign visit as prime minister with a trip to Kyiv - and will hand over blueprints so Ukraine can build its own long-range missiles. The prime minister will chair his first meeting of the "coalition of the willing"
11 hours ago
Apple’s next iPhone launch is getting closer, and the company’s usual September schedule is beginning to take shape. According to a recent Forbes report, Apple could hold its special event on Wednesday, September 9, where it is expected to introduce the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max
11 hours ago
Fugitive gangster Goldy Brar has, in an audio clip, purportedly claimed responsibility for the killing of Khalistani separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada, The Indian Express reported. The newspaper said it could not independently verify the authenticity of the audio clip
11 hours ago
Dad crashes daughter’s late-night work meeting over parcels: ‘Ek paise ki saving nahi karti’ A father’s surprise appearance during his daughter’s work call turns into a lecture on spending and saving. Updated on: Aug 24, 2026, 10:56:44 IST By Vaishali Kapila Prefer HTon Google Share via
11 hours ago
A Zimbabwean content creator’s tongue-in-cheek take on life in India has caught the attention of social media users after he shared 10 everyday conveniences that have completely changed his standard of living. From paying for almost everything with just a phone to having food
11 hours ago
Starting September 1, passengers traveling internationally will be required to use an e-boarding pass on their smartphones for immigration clearance, as announced by immigration authorities. This significant change comes as the Bureau of Immigration (BOI)
14 hours ago
The September 2026 US Visa Bulletin brings a mixed picture for Indian green card applicants. While some family-sponsored categories have moved forward, several employment-based categories remain severely constrained, with two India-specific categories listed as unavailable and the State Department
14 hours ago
The Maharashtra Transport Department has issued notices to 777 drivers for lacking practical knowledge of Marathi, The Hindu quoted unidentified officials as saying on Saturday. A total of 5,211 drivers were tested during a statewide inspection campaign that began on August 20, including 3
14 hours ago
19-year-old killed, friend injured after truck hits motorcycle on Delhi's Indraprastha flyover A police team reached the spot and found a motorcycle lying in a damaged condition and two people seriously injured. One of them died in the hospital. Updated on: Aug 24, 2026
14 hours ago
Indian woman reveals why her family returned to India after 13 years in US: ‘You don’t really belong here’ A woman shared five reasons her family decided to leave the US and return to India after 13 years. Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 07:43:56 IST By Mahipal Singh Chouhan Prefer HTon Google
14 hours ago
New UK PM Andy Burnham to make visit to Kyiv on Monday: office New UK PM Andy Burnham to make visit to Kyiv on Monday: office Updated on: Aug 24, 2026, 07:41:28 IST AFP Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link British Prime Minister Andy Burnham will visit Kyiv on Monday on his first international
14 hours ago
Bengaluru vs Gurgaon? Man who lived in both cities explains why the comparison is ‘completely pointless’ A man said the Bengaluru versus Gurgaon debate was pointless and urged people to live in both cities before deciding. Published on: Aug 24, 2026
14 hours ago
Circle Wealth CIO and Managing Partner Chadha said the market was rewarding companies with strong earnings and improving outlooks, even as large-cap stocks remained under pressure. Diwali season is expected to bring a fresh boost for Indian equities following strong corporate earnings
14 hours ago
The restriction was imposed under Section 26A of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, which governs the import, manufacture, distribution, and sale of drugs and cosmetics. The central government on Saturday restricted the manufacturing, sale and distribution of all fixed-dose combinations (FDCs)
14 hours ago
Ukraine backers gather as war escalates, air defence runs low Ukraine backers gather as war escalates, air defence runs low Updated on: Aug 24, 2026, 07:41:29 IST AFP Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Ukraine on Monday hosts a meeting of its key European backers to press for critical
14 hours ago
'Trouble proving citizenship after representing India in 3 countries': Ex-envoy to ECI over Punjab SIR Suri served as India’s ambassador to the UAE and Egypt and high commissioner to Australia. Updated on: Aug 24, 2026, 07:34:33 IST By HT Correspondent Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link
14 hours ago
2 killed after illegal building in Hyderabad's Gachibowli caves in Officials alleged that the building was built over or adjacent to a drain without the required permissions. Published on: Aug 23, 2026, 14:41:02 IST By Srinivasa Rao Apparasu Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link At least two
1 days ago
J'khand: Compensation of ₹31 lakh each given to families of 3 engineers burnt alive at steel plant J'khand: Compensation of ₹31 lakh each given to families of 3 engineers burnt alive at steel plant Published on: Aug 23, 2026, 14:43:04 IST PTI Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Ramgarh
1 days ago
Jaiñtia Hills to the G7: Can Meghalaya turn ‘Lakadong’ into a global brand? The high-curcumin turmeric has gone from an obscure hill crop to a GI-tagged premium product showcased before world leaders. Updated on: Aug 23, 2026, 14:48:20 IST By David Laitphlang
1 days ago
Ex-NRI shares why she takes auto for 1 km ride to gym after moving to India: 'Life here is a compromise' The woman shared that she has to walk through an area where "everybody stares", while the pathway is "ubad-khabad", dirty and encroached. Updated on: Aug 23, 2026
1 days ago
