Restored As Voter After SIR Deletion, Motab Shaikh's Rare Victory In Bengal's Farakka Ups Congress Tally To 2

Congress candidate Motab Shaikh, whose name was deleted from the electoral rolls during a special intensive revision and later restored by an appellate tribunal, won West Bengal’s Farakka Assembly seat on Monday.

Shaikh defeated his nearest rival, Sudhir Chowdhuri of the Bharatiya Janata Party, by more than 8,000 votes.

The West Bengal election resulted in a landslide victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party, which won 207 out of 293 seats (polling for the Falta seat will be held again). Conversely, the Congress Party, India’s oldest political organization, failed to reach double digits in the Assembly. Despite this, Motab Shaikh managed to secure a win in Farakka, overcoming the earlier controversy regarding his voter eligibility.

On April 5, reports surfaced that a Kolkata-based appellate tribunal, established to review appeals from individuals removed from West Bengal’s electoral rolls, ordered the Election Commission to reinstate a man named Shaikh as a legitimate voter in Murshidabad via a supplementary list.

This ruling marked the first case resolved by the tribunal. The presiding officer, retired Calcutta High Court Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam, observed that the Election Commission failed to clarify the specific circumstances of Shaikh's removal, citing only "technical reasons" during the proceedings. Justice Sivagnanam ruled that Shaikh's passport served as adequate identification, noting a total lack of discrepancies regarding his parentage across official records.

Similar Rulings and Election Outcomes

A comparable decision was reached in the case of Congress candidate Mohammad Mottakin Alam. A tribunal restored his voting rights after determining that the authorities' concerns, which included alleged inconsistencies in his age and parentage, did not constitute valid reasons for disenfranchisement.

The subsequent election results reflected a mix of triumphs and setbacks for the Congress party:

Success in Farakka: Congress candidate Motab Shaikh won the seat, garnering over 62,000 votes to defeat BJP’s Sunil Choudhary (54,857 votes) and TMC’s Amirul Islam (47,256 votes).

Defeat in Baharampur: In a surprising turn, veteran leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury lost his seat. Despite his high profile, his 73,540 votes were not enough to overcome the BJP candidate, Subrata.

Shifting Political Dynamics

The data indicates a notable shift in voter sentiment within Muslim-majority regions. The Congress saw a resurgence in these areas, successfully eroding the Trinamool Congress (TMC) vote share and significantly altering the competitive landscape for several candidates.

Also Read: Mamata Banerjee, MK Stalin, Gaurav Gogoi: High-Stakes Titans Who Failed 2026 Litmus Test