7.40am, FD Block community centre: 150 residents are in the queue outside a booth

10.15am, FD Block community centre: 262 residents have already cast their votes out of a total of 620 registered voters and 50 more are in the queue

Residents of Salt Lake spilled out in droves to vote on Monday, overcoming fears of a rerun of the violence in the civic polls six months ago to send out the message that democracy is the difference between giving in and giving it back.

Long queues outside polling booths were spotted across the city - Salt Lake to Lake Town, Kestopur to New Town - as the presence of central forces and, for once, a protective police regime inspired confidence.

"I had waited for this day for the past six months. This is the way elections should happen. What happened last year was unheard of in Salt Lake. I am happy that peace has been restored and we could cast our votes," said Rathin Majumdar, a 49-year-old central government employee.

During the civic elections on October 3, many voters had been waylaid and assaulted on their way to this booth. Two more booths located on the ground floor of the two-storey community hall had been captured by outsiders owing allegiance to the ruling Trinamul Congress by 9.30am. The raiders forced out polling agents of Trinamul's rival candidates to cast false votes. Residents who tried to protest were either stopped at the gate or attacked.

"Last year, some men stopped me at the gate and said my vote had been cast. This year, I came early hoping to vote myself and I am happy that I could," said Olivia Ghosh, a BCom student from FE Block voting for the first time.

Many residents who had been apprehensive of a repeat of October 3 were comforted by the sight of central forces patrolling the lanes in front of their homes. As the day progressed, even those who harboured fears came out.

"I was very scared seeing what had happened the last time polls were held. I wanted to wait for some hours before stepping out to vote. But after seeing so many central force personnel on the road and a confirmation from our building caretaker that there were no outsiders around, I went out with my daughter," said Sangeeta Agarwal, a resident of HA Block.

The only oppressive element was the weather - hot and sweaty since morning with relative humidity more than doubling over 24 hours. As the day wore on and the Celsius soared to 34 degrees by 10am - the RealFeel had shot up to 43 degrees by then - so did the count of voters.

Abhishek Basu of BC Block lost his mother on Sunday but still came out to vote as a mark of protest against what happened in October. "I had made up my mind to vote. Last year, during the civic polls, I knew nobody in the queue in our booth because they were all outsiders. I felt insulted as a resident that such a poll was conducted in our township. This year, the faces in the queue are the familiar ones," he said.

In Kestopur, security forces set up extra tarpaulin shades on seeing the queue exceeding the makeshift shamiana in a polling station. The line took some time to move because central forces were carefully checking each voter slip, voter identity card and matching the photograph on the ID with the person carrying it. No voter complained.

Priti Kumar Sen, the 69-year-old whose face had mirrored the helplessness of voters during the violence in Salt Lake last year, said he was pleasantly surprised by what he saw on Monday morning.

"I opened my gate to find the road outside my house devoid of any party camps and outsiders. I remember there were at least 200 men outside my house last time...They are the same ones who attacked me and my son when we went out to vote," said Sen, a resident of AB Block.

A jawan told Metro that at least six voters thanked him for the way central forces had helped conduct the polls. "It felt special," he said.