A section of migrant workers who had travelled hundreds of kilometres from far-flung places to exercise their franchise in the first phase of the Assembly elections on Thursday has decided to stay back till May 4, when the results will be announced.
However, the other migrants started preparing to return to their workplaces in other states since they do not want to lose their earnings.
Ziaur Rahman and Azgar Ali, both masons and residents of Nazirhat village near the India-Bangladesh border in the Dinhata subdivision of Cooch Behar district, work in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
To cast their votes, they managed to secure train tickets with considerable difficulty and returned home about a week ago. Now that they have voted, they are in no hurry to return.
“After spending so much money and effort to come here, we will wait to see the results before going back,” said Ziaur.
Azgar echoed him: “We stood in queues and cast our votes. Whoever wins will win, but we won’t leave without seeing the results.”
A similar sentiment is shared by Rahim Sheikh and Banesh Ali, who also work as masons.
However, their workplace is closer — Siliguri.
“We are still within the state, just a bit far away. If work calls, we can go anytime. Siliguri isn’t too far. We can even check the results from there. But if there’s no urgent call, we’ll stay back and watch the results before returning,” said Sheikh.
These stories reflect a larger social reality. This time, voter turnout in Cooch Behar reached a record 96.04 per cent —the highest in the country. A significant factor behind this massive participation has been migrant workers.
Amid concerns over names being excluded from the voter list during the special intensive revision (SIR) process, many whose names remained on the rolls — especially migrant workers employed in other states — returned to their villages ahead of polling. For them, voting was not just a civic duty, but also a reaffirmation of their identity and rights.
However, not everyone shares the same curiosity about the results.
Pinku Rahman, a resident of Sitalkuchi in Cooch Behar, says he is indifferent to the outcome.
In the 2021 Assembly elections, his brother Moniruzzaman and three other youths died in a firing on the poll day. Now a migrant worker, Pinku works as a mason in Samtse, Bhutan.
“I will leave on Sunday. I came to vote, and I’ve done that. Now I just want to return to work,” he said.
Abul Kasem, a resident of Samserganj in Murshidabad, who works as a mason in Hyderabad, had also come home to vote. He has a return ticket booked for April 27 and plans to leave for work that day.
Moslem Mondal from Domkal, who works in Sambalpur, Odisha, said he had not yet booked a ticket but plans to travel by the end of this month 28. “I want to join the work, but on May 4, I will take a leave to keep an eye on the election results,” he said.