The spirit of the farmers’ movement on Delhi borders permeated a wedding over a thousand kilometres away in Galsi, East Burdwan, where a newly married couple decided to urge their 400-odd guests not to vote for the BJP.

The groom, Sheikh Mohammed Hafijur, 32, a college teacher who comes from a family of farmers in East Burdwan, reminded his guests on March 11 about the uprising of the peasantry against the BJP on the borders of Delhi and their demand to repeal the three farm laws.

The appeal, a guest said, had struck a chord with those invited to the wedding reception.

The couple, who recited the Preamble of the Constitution at the reception too, gave guests placards with the message — BJP ke ektio vote noy (Not a single vote to BJP).

Hafijur, who has done his PhD in Persian from Visva-Bharati, is an assistant professor at a college in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur. He married Aziza Khatun, 24, from Birbhum’s Tarapith on March 10.

“As polls are round the corner, I wanted to use our reception to campaign against the BJP,” Hafijur said, and added that they left the choice of whom to vote for with the invitees.

Was it tough for him to convince his bride and family to agree to this anti-BJP campaign?

Hafijur, whose family owns some 20 acres of land in Galsi, said it wasn’t. “The farmers’ movement is important to all of us,” he said, adding that he appealed to invitees to paste the placards in their respective areas. “Many guests were surprised to see my wife and I holding placards. When they asked us the reason, we told them about the farm laws. Later, many asked us for extra placards to use them in their campaign,” Hafijur added.

Aziza, studying her bachelor’s in education from the University of Burdwan, said she was “overwhelmed” when her husband told her about his plan.

She also asked women invitees to highlight how women are unsafe in BJP-ruled states.

Manisha Banerjee, headmistress of Labhpur SNSN Girls’ High School in Birbhum, and one of the invitees at Hafijur’s reception, said she was surprised by the “bold initiative” taken by the young couple.