For residents of Sindrani-Harinagar village along the India-Bangladesh border under the Bagda Assembly seat in North 24-Parganas, Wednesday marked more than just another polling day — it signalled the end of a decades-long struggle for basic electoral access.
Around 700 voters exercised their franchise at a polling station within the village for the first time since Independence.
For nearly three decades, villagers had been compelled to travel close to 5km to the Kharer Math polling station to cast their votes, a logistical hurdle that often discouraged participation, particularly among the elderly. Despite occasional arrangements by political parties, such as rickshaw vans, many senior citizens gradually withdrew from the voting process, deterred by the physical strain of
the journey.
That long-standing grievance was finally addressed this election after repeated appeals from residents prompted the North 24-Parganas district administration to set up a polling station at Harinagar Shahid Bhagat Singh Primary School.
The move brought long-awaited relief and renewed enthusiasm among 713 enrolled voters, many of whom described the development as a restoration of their democratic rights.
Sumita Barui, an elderly homemaker who had abstained from voting for over a decade due to the 5km distance, said: “It is a great feeling today as I could cast my vote at my doorstep. It is the success of a long struggle by residents here.”
Bimal Das, another senior villager, echoed the sentiment: “In my younger days, I used to travel to Kharer Math to cast my vote. But as I grew older, I started avoiding voting mainly because of the immense trouble of travelling such a distance.”
The demand for a local polling station had been a persistent one. Villagers had submitted multiple mass petitions over the past 30 years and even staged road blockades to draw the administration’s attention, but their appeals went unaddressed.
“We submitted mass petitions many times for a new polling station in our area and even blocked roads to press for our demand. Nothing worked. It has taken nearly 30 years since our elderly residents first launched this movement,” said Bipratip Das, a youth who later took a leading role in the campaign.
This time, however, the administration responded positively, carving out a separate polling booth for 713 voters earlier attached to the Kharer Math booth.
Candidates from the BJP and the Trinamool Congress, Soma Thakur and Madhuparna Thakur, welcomed the move. “It is much deserved for the people of this village,” said the BJP’s Soma Thakur, wife of Union minister Shantanu Thakur.
Trinamool’s Madhuparna Thakur, the daughter of Rajya Sabha member Mamatabala Thakur, said: “It has come late, but the good thing is that it finally happened.”
Soma and Madhuparna are sisters-in-law of the most prominent Matua family,
bitterly divided along political lines.
A North 24-Parganas district official said the reasons behind the prolonged delay were not immediately clear, but blamed drawbacks in “infrastructure” or “logistical support”.