As the newly tarred road meanders around Madhya Mosaldanga, an erstwhile Bangladeshi enclave that became part of India on August 1, 2015, three generations of voters are eagerly waiting to vote for the first time in their lives.
Clutching their voter identity cards on the eve of polling for the sixth and final phase of West Bengal elections, the new Indian citizens are waiting for a new dawn.
There are plans to spray colours and hold a feast. “We have told the Sub-Divisional Officer that all the villagers will come together to cast their vote,” Joynal Abedin, 23, told The Hindu .
A say in governanceIn the idyllic village surrounded by fields full of corn and jute, where green mangoes hang from trees, Joynal’s grandfather, 103-year-old Asgar Ali, sat on the same bench he sat on the evening of July 31, 2015 before the enclaves became part of India and its citizens Indians.
“All these years, we had no say in the government; now that we can vote, we can raise our demands ...,” Mr. Ali said pausing for some time. “I want to see Chhit Mahal change into Sonar Mahal.”
Three generations of his family — his son, Bellal, Joynal and he — will exercise their franchise for the first time on Thursday. Joynal and his friends keep counting the number of families where three generations will vote. The count exceeds half a dozen in Mosaldanga and adjoining erstwhile enclaves.
There are 9,776 such voters in Cooch Behar district — 9,209 from the erstwhile enclaves that became part of India and 567 voters who crossed over from Indian enclaves in Bangladesh to be part of India. The people talk about how to press the button after the beep and how important it is to keep the voter card with them at the booth.
“Many people have taken leave and come here to vote. About 30 per cent of the people here are working outside. Most of them have come,” Joynal said.
Unlike the 21.26 lakh voters in the district, for these 9,776 voters, who wins the election is not an issue. For these people, participating in the election process itself is a victory.
Tough contestCooch Behar is witnessing a tough contest between the ruling Trinamool and the Left-Congress alliance. In 2011, of the nine Assembly seats, the Trinamool and the Left Front won four each and the Congress one. While the former All India Forward Bloc leader Udayan Guha from Dinhata is contesting on the Trinamool ticket, the Left-Congress alliance has come as an advantage to him.
As many as 123 companies of Central forces have been deployed in the district and the border with Assam has been sealed to ensure free and fair polls.
