West Bengal's Cooch Behar wary of voting

After getting Indian citizenship, this would be the first Lok Sabha elections for over 13,000-odd voters living in enclaves of Cooch Behar, which goes to poll on Thursday. But there is an apprehension among the people here, thanks to the rampant violence during the panchayat elections last year.

"Under normal conditions, we would have been excited, but given the violence in the last panchayat election and a bypoll here, we are keeping fingers crossed. During the panchayat polls, the ruling party candidate won uncontested because no one was allowed to file nomination. In the Assembly bypoll, we were told that our votes have already been cast," said Bishnu Burman, a resident of Shibprasad Mustafi enclave in Cooch Behar. 

He also said there was growing resentment among people against ruling TMC owing to the violence. "Many have made up their minds that if they are stopped from voting this time, they will put up a fight," he added.

Residents say TMC leaders had unleashed goons to control the poll process because they had not lived up to the promises they made. "Enclave dwellers still live in tin sheds," said Saju Rahman, a resident of Karala enclave.

Even at Poaturkuthi enclave, which is Muslim majority, whispers of voting in favour of BJP are doing the rounds. "We have been cheated. Promises are not kept. Though they don't want to spell it out, almost all Muslims will vote for BJP from here," said a Poaturkuthi resident on condition of anonymity.

Since midnight August 1, 2015, the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) between India and Bangladesh came into force making 14,215 persons living in 37 inhabited Bangladeshi enclaves out of 51 in India, defacto citizens of India.