TMC candidate from Falta seat, Jahangir Khan, who has been in the headlines since the West Bengal Assembly elections, is still in the news.

Jahangir Khan was arrested by the West Bengal Police Special Task Force (STF) at the Nepal border on June 8. At the time, a source told BBC Bangla that Jahangir Khan was preparing to flee the country.

After the arrest of Jahangir Khan, known as 'Falta ka Pushpa', the West Bengal Police paraded him twice in Falta of South 24 Parganas district.

In the second parade held on Monday, June 15, he was wearing half pants and a T-shirt.

During this, Jahangir Khan was seen folding his hands and holding his ears. During the first parade, he wore shorts and a T-shirt, but he wore slippers. However, during Monday's parade, he was barefoot.

Jahangir Khan faces at least five criminal charges, including murder and extortion. During the assembly elections, the Calcutta High Court granted an interim stay on his arrest in five cases until May 26.

Although Jahangir Khan had again approached the High Court, the vacation bench had refused to grant him relief in all five FIRs.

Image source,Social Media Video Screengrab

Image caption,Jahangir Khan is seen folding his hands and holding his ears during the parade.

Why was the parade held?

After his arrest at the Nepal border, photos and videos of him being paraded through the streets twice, sometimes holding his ears and sometimes pleading for forgiveness with folded hands, have gone viral. This matter is also sparking controversy.

Those national and international news which made headlines throughout the day.

But why was Jahangir paraded through the streets like this in the same area where he held sway until the elections? No police officer is willing to comment officially on this issue.

However, a district police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told BBC associate journalist Prabhakar Mani Tiwari, "Seven FIRs have been registered against Jahangir in various cases at the Falta police station. In some of these cases, he was taken to the scene for the purpose of reconstructing the incident and collecting evidence."

But why was he taken on foot instead of in a police jeep, and why was he seen begging for forgiveness with folded hands? The officer replied that one of the purposes was to send a message to the people of the area that they no longer needed to fear Jahangir and that his terror had ended.

However, the officer refused to comment on the question whether the police had received any instructions from above to do so?

Senior BBC Bangla journalist Shubhjyoti Ghosh says that this parade is a form of messaging. He says that the new government is trying to send a message to the public that this will be the fate of those in power under its rule.

Image caption,Two days before the voting for the Falta assembly seat, Jahangir Khan announced his withdrawal from the election (file photo)

Who is Jahangir Khan?

Jahangir was considered close to Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee, who was a well-known leader in Falta in South 24 Parganas district.

Prabhakar Mani Tiwari explains that Jahangir Khan did not contest the 2021 elections, but he played a very active role behind the scenes. Due to his alleged closeness to Abhishek Banerjee, he was known as a strongman in the area.

His name also surfaced in connection with post-election violence in 2021. He was the head of the PWD and Road Transport Department in the South 24-Parganas Zilla Parishad.

Jahangir passed 12th from Belsingha Shikshayatan School, Falta in the year 2002.

In his affidavit filed with the Election Commission this year, he listed business and social work as his professions. According to this affidavit, his total assets are ₹2.10 crore.

Image source,@jahangirkhantmc

Image caption,Jahangir Khan was considered close to Abhishek Banerjee (file photo)

When she called herself 'Pushpa' during the elections

The West Bengal Assembly elections were held in two phases on April 23 and 29, and the results were declared on May 4. In these elections, the BJP won 207 seats and the TMC won 80 seats.

Voting took place in the Falta constituency during the second phase of polling. However, the Election Commission found irregularities at all 285 polling stations in the constituency and subsequently announced a re-poll on May 21st.

Falta assembly seat was already in the news because BJP had alleged that local TMC leader Jahangir Khan harasses people.

A video of UP's famous IPS Ajaypal Sharma, who was made an observer here during the election process, went viral.

In this, Ajaypal Sharma warned Jahangir. In the video, he was seen saying, "Understand this clearly, if anyone misbehaves, they will be dealt with appropriately. If news comes from anywhere that someone has done something wrong or tried to harass someone, they will be dealt with severely. Jahangir's family should also hear this. Tell him. There are repeated reports of threats. Tell him, don't cry or regret later."

After this video went viral, many opposition leaders including Akhilesh Yadav had condemned IPS Ajaypal Sharma and demanded his removal.

On this, Jahangir Khan had said that if Ajaypal is 'Singham' then he is also 'Pushpa who does not bow down.'

Image source,@jahangirkhantmc

Image caption,Jahangir Khan announced his withdrawal from the electoral contest days after the last date for withdrawal of nominations (file photo)

Then withdrew from the election

In the Falta seat, TMC's Jahangir Khan was expected to face Debangshu Panda of the BJP and Abdur Razzak Molla of the Congress. CPI(M)'s Shambhu Nath Kurmi was also considered a contender.

But just before the vote, Jahangir Khan abruptly announced his withdrawal from the race. The Trinamool Congress stated that this was his personal decision, not that of the party.

On this matter, Jahangir Khan had said, "I am a son of the soil of Falta. I always wanted peace and development in Falta. My dream was to make Falta beautiful. The Chief Minister will give a special package for Falta and that is why I am distancing myself from the voting to be held on May 21."

On his announcement, Chief Minister Shubhendu Adhikari had said that 'Jahangir Khan ran away because he did not find any polling agent.'

However, after the vote count, Debangshu Panda of the Bharatiya Janata Party won by over 100,000 votes. He secured 1,49,666 votes, or 71.2%.

Surprising political pundits, Shambhu Nath Kurmi of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) came in second, with 40,645 (19.34%) votes. Congress candidate Abdur Razzaq came in third, with 10,084 (4.8%) votes.

But surprisingly, Trinamool Congress candidate Jahangir Khan also got 7783 (3.7%) votes.