Scene 1: A man in his mid-30s came out of Totini Balika Vidyalay, along with his wife and mother, at Fatepur in the Falta Assembly constituency, one of the strongest bastions of Abhishek Banerjee, the national general secretary of the Trinamool Congress and the Diamond Harbour MP, with a smiling face.
The man said they were happy because they could cast their votes for the candidate of their choice after the 2016 Assembly polls.
Scene 2: A shop owner at Fatepur Bazar in the same area told this correspondent that he would shut his shop soon and would go to cast his vote before 11am.
“I had been watching the atmosphere since morning. As many of my neighbours have gone back after casting their votes, I am hopeful that I will be able to vote this time. Last time I had cast my vote was in 2016,” said the trader in his late 20s.
Several other voters this correspondent spoke to in the Falta Assembly constituency of South 24-Parganas said they could exercise their franchise after a decade.
“I could recall that I had cast my vote in favour of the Trinamool Congress to defeat the Left Front-Congress combine in 2016. But I couldn’t vote in the 2019, 2021, and 2024 elections. I could cast my vote this year. Thanks to the Election Commission for the terror-free atmosphere,” said a resident who cast his vote at Baneswarpur Adarsha Vidyalay in Banganagar, Falta.
A section of the voters explained what encouraged them to come out and exercise their franchise.
The absence of Trinamool workers on motorbikes on the polling day and their door-to-door threats on the previous night encouraged voters to go to the booths this time.
“As central force jawans patrolled the area in the past week, along with the local police, common voters felt assured that they could come out to vote this time. Moreover, we could not find the cadres who would unleash terror in the area before the polls this time. As we heard that people were freely casting their votes, all in our
locality came out to vote,” said another voter at Banganagar.
The enthusiasm among common people was evident when 504 of the total 924 votes were cast at the Baneswarpur booth in Banganagar by 11am. The picture is no different in the booths at Fatepur Srinath Institute and Totini Balika Vidyalaya, where more than 55 per cent of the votes were cast by 11.30am.
Falta was making headlines over the past few days after the police observer, Ajay Pal Sharma, an IPS officer of UP cadre, patrolled the area and “built confidence” among the voters by allegedly issuing threats to Trinamool candidate Jahangir Khan and
his associates.
“We had more than 40 boys in our booth camp around 7am. But the central force jawans came here and resorted to baton-charge indiscreetly. After that, we are running the booth camps with just four men. I have asked all others to stay at home,” Tapas Kapat, a Trinamool member of the Fatepur gram panchayat, said when asked why the booth camp of the ruling party wore a deserted look.
In Falta, 86.71 per cent of people came out to cast their votes till 5pm, which is much higher than 2024, when the polling percentage was 84.14. The final voter turnout at Falta in 2021 was 87 per cent. This time, the final voter turnout could surpass the 2021 figure.
“But you should not go by the figures alone, as there were random proxy and false voting in the previous elections. Genuine voters cast their votes on their own and for the candidates of their choice today,” said an official of the South 24-Parganas district
administration.
Even though there was no assembly of bike riders or ruling party workers in the nook and corner of the area, the “fear” was still visible.
This correspondent did not find a single booth camp of Opposition parties along a stretch of Diamond Harbour Road that passes through three Assembly segments —
Falta, Bishnupur and Magrahat (Paschim).
“The Opposition parties are very much there. They are mobilising their votes over the phone and with the help of central forces. But they did not set up any camp as they did not want to get their workers identified,” said Tapas Roy, the deputy chief of the Trinamool-run Banganagar 2 gram panchayat.