In Falta repoll order, a two-decade old precedent in Bihar’s Chakai
Fresh polls in entire Assembly seat rare, ordered only after ‘widespread fraud’
The Election Commission’s order for a repoll in West Bengal’s Falta seat has a nearly two decade-old precedent in Bihar.
Citing “EVM tampering”, the ECI on Saturday ordered that the entire Falta Assembly constituency would go for a repoll on May 21, with counting slated for May 24. While holding repolls at some booths in a seat is common, a fresh poll in the entire constituency is extremely rare, ordered only when widespread systemic fraud is proven.
And in such instances, the poll body often goes back to the Chakai Assembly seat in Bihar’s Jamui — a flip seat which saw not just a repoll but also a reversed mandate in 2005.
Chakai is a stronghold of two local heavyweight political dynasties — the families of Late Narendra Singh and Falguni Prasad Yadav. Singh’s father Srikrishna Singh won this seat in 1967 and 1969 polls, when he was fielded by the Sanyukt Socialist Party. After succeeding his father, Narendra Singh won the seat first as a Congress candidate in 1985, then on a Janata Dal ticket in 1990, and finally as an independent in 2000. On the other hand, Yadav won the Chakai seat first as an independent candidate in 1977 and then on a BJP ticket in 1980 and 1995.
In the February 2005 Bihar Assembly polls, Chakai saw a head-on collision between Falguni Prasad Yadav, contesting again on a BJP seat, and Abhay Singh, the son of bigwig Narendra Singh, who was fielded here by Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).
Abhay won the polls with a razor-thin margin of over 4,600 votes. For LJP, it was its best show so far with a total win of 29 seats in the polls. But within three months, a repoll was ordered in the entire Chakai seat – one that saw a flip in the mandate in the favour of BJP’s Yadav with a sharp margin of over 5,000 votes. The ECI’s order here came as a result of complaints of malpractices in the election by Yadav’s camp. However, the repoll was shortly followed by President’s rule in the state, resulting in another Assembly election in October-November the same year. Yadav emerged victorious in that poll, as well.
It is the 2005 Chakai repoll which is often cited as a historical reference point in Indian electoral history. And in Falta’s case too, it was this incident which served as the primary precedent for the repoll order.
Chakai, meanwhile, continues to witness a battle between the two families. Narendra’s son Sumit Kumar Singh won back the family’s seat in 2010 as a candidate of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. In 2015, the electorate went with Yadav’s wife, Savitri Devi, who fought on an RJD ticket. Sumit took back the seat as an independent in 2020, and so did Savitri Devi for the RJD in 2025.
All eyes are now set on Falta constituency which goes to polls on May 21. As for the rest of 293 Assembly seats in West Bengal, the result is expected on Monday.
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The Election Commission’s order for a repoll in West Bengal’s Falta seat has a nearly two decade-old precedent in Bihar.
Citing “EVM tampering”, the ECI on Saturday ordered that the entire Falta Assembly constituency would go for a repoll on May 21, with counting slated for May 24. While holding repolls at some booths in a seat is common, a fresh poll in the entire constituency is extremely rare, ordered only when widespread systemic fraud is proven.
And in such instances, the poll body often goes back to the Chakai Assembly seat in Bihar’s Jamui — a flip seat which saw not just a repoll but also a reversed mandate in 2005.
Chakai is a stronghold of two local heavyweight political dynasties — the families of Late Narendra Singh and Falguni Prasad Yadav. Singh’s father Srikrishna Singh won this seat in 1967 and 1969 polls, when he was fielded by the Sanyukt Socialist Party. After succeeding his father, Narendra Singh won the seat first as a Congress candidate in 1985, then on a Janata Dal ticket in 1990, and finally as an independent in 2000. On the other hand, Yadav won the Chakai seat first as an independent candidate in 1977 and then on a BJP ticket in 1980 and 1995.
In the February 2005 Bihar Assembly polls, Chakai saw a head-on collision between Falguni Prasad Yadav, contesting again on a BJP seat, and Abhay Singh, the son of bigwig Narendra Singh, who was fielded here by Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).
Abhay won the polls with a razor-thin margin of over 4,600 votes. For LJP, it was its best show so far with a total win of 29 seats in the polls. But within three months, a repoll was ordered in the entire Chakai seat – one that saw a flip in the mandate in the favour of BJP’s Yadav with a sharp margin of over 5,000 votes. The ECI’s order here came as a result of complaints of malpractices in the election by Yadav’s camp. However, the repoll was shortly followed by President’s rule in the state, resulting in another Assembly election in October-November the same year. Yadav emerged victorious in that poll, as well.
It is the 2005 Chakai repoll which is often cited as a historical reference point in Indian electoral history. And in Falta’s case too, it was this incident which served as the primary precedent for the repoll order.
Chakai, meanwhile, continues to witness a battle between the two families. Narendra’s son Sumit Kumar Singh won back the family’s seat in 2010 as a candidate of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha. In 2015, the electorate went with Yadav’s wife, Savitri Devi, who fought on an RJD ticket. Sumit took back the seat as an independent in 2020, and so did Savitri Devi for the RJD in 2025.
All eyes are now set on Falta constituency which goes to polls on May 21. As for the rest of 293 Assembly seats in West Bengal, the result is expected on Monday.
