Goons & autos may not sway Bengali Muslims Krishnendu Bandyopadhyay & Subhro Maitra TNN Kolkata: Autos were ferrying burqa-clad women to booths at Metiabruz. CPM youths were bringing their voters to the booths. The scene was almost the same like previous years, but the confidence was absent.“Le to a raha hay, lekin woh log kya vote de rahein hai (They might take the voters to booths, but do they vote for them)?” wondered Sheikh Taukhat, a tailor, outside the Kasab Para Primary School in Metiabruz. So, has the crucial minority vote swung away from the Left? The answer will be available only on May 16. But, on May 13, some knee-jerk reaction and some desperation on the part of the ruling CPM showed that not everything is hunky-dory with their once-captive minority vote bank. There is a sharp divide, too. Non-Bengali Muslims still find “hardly anything wrong” with CPM. But things might not be the same with their Bengali counterparts. Moinuddin Mollah, Mohammad Iqbal or Israful Gazi were enjoying a real holiday (Wednesday is the weekly holiday in this dorjimoholla). But the mood there was sharply different from that of Garden Reach, dominated by non-Bengali Muslim voters. The Bengali-speaking Muslims are struck by Nandigram, Singur or Bhangar. They are voting for paribartan (change). “This time people are talking about a change after 30 years...” mumbled Gazi. In fact, the influence of Nandigram, which is across the Hooghly, is more evident here than any other place. If many of the ostagars (master tailors) have their homes in Nandigram, the regular bus service between Metiabruz and Nandigram takes the cut pieces there for the tailors. No wonder, the sense of insecurity in Nandigram has crept into the minds of the people living here. Sensing the erosion, Mokhtars are over-active. Mokhtar, a new kid in the crime block of the port area, and his gang members, roamed about Metiabruz to beat the anti-Left voters back to their homes. When Ali Mohammad went to Maulana Abdul Bari School to vote, he found his vote had already been cast. An infuriated Ali sought an explanation from the presiding officer. Mokhtar’s boys caught him by the collar, threw him out and beat him up. “I only wanted to vote peacefully. They beat us up mercilessly. I thought I would die,” said Mohammad. From early morning, CPM did everything to mobilise its infamous election machinery in this minority belt. Its partymen almost chose their voters while removing the suspecting ones. State armed police constables and home guards manned many booths. “There is no central force personnel at some of the most sensitive booths,” alleged Somen Mitra, the Trinamool candidate from Diamond Harbour. At booths 96, 97 and 97A, at the Pachur High School were fully ‘sanitized,’ there are three polling agents — all of CPM, of course, two in the name of Independent candidates. “All are going ‘peacefully’. Same was the scene at Judge Abdul Bari School where all the five booths missed the Trinamool polling agents. Being asked, the agents, too, have to search for card in their pockets bearing the names of the Independents they are representing. At Paharpur Road, the main gate of Apsara apartment, was blocked since morning. The residents were prevented, not by force, but by intimidation. Cadres were keeping vigil by sitting idle on the ground floor. Journalists were not allowed to go in.
In crisis, CPM relies on Rajabazar voters Arnab Ganguly TNN Kolkata:
It’s around 2 in the afternoon. Halima Begum walks out of the polling booth at ward No. 29’s maternity home and clinic. The autorickshaw that had brought her to the booth is nowhere to be seen. With no other option, Halima starts walking towards her Rajabazar residence. “Woh sab mohalla ke larke hain. Auto chalate hain. Subah aake hum se kaha ki chachi aap ko booth tak pahunchha denge. Humne to socha tha wapas bhi le jayenge. Ab khud hi jana parega ((They are from my neighbourhood. Most of them drive autorickshaws. They came in the morning and said that they would drop me at the booth. I thought they would take me back as well. Now I have to go on my own),” Halima said. But the auto driver’s job was over. He had gone to some other place to bring some other voters to the booth. With padyatras and speeches over, it’s time for hardcore electioneering to ensure that none of the supporters fail to cast his vote. At the heart of the city’s minority belt, CPM went all out to woo voters. Having been on the back foot in rural Bengal ever since the Singur and Nandigram agitations erupted and a vast section of the minority community voters had apparently rejected the ruling party, Rajabazar is likely to bring the smiles back on the leaders’ faces. Voters, majority of them Urdu-speaking Muslims, turned up in large numbers at the booths to exercise their right. The majority of autorickshaw drivers being under control of the ruling party, the drivers had a busy day, ferrying supporters to the polling booths. “We have been asked to take voters to the booths. The issue of payment will be settled later,” said Altaf Hussain, an autorickshaw driver from Kadapara. Half an hour before the booths opened on Wednesday morning, CPM workers were busy at Momin High School, Baitulmal Girls High School and ward No. 29’s maternity home and clinic, mobilising voters. Autorickshaws that ply on the Mechhua, Sealdah, Rajabazar and Manicktala routes were used to transport voters — mostly women and elderly from their homes — to the booth. The distance to be travelled varied between 500 metres and a kilometre. “This year the number of booths has gone up, making it easier. Earlier, there used to be long queues. This time there was hardly any delay,” said Mohammad Bashiruddin, while coming out of Momin High School. CPM workers were busy checking whether voters were carrying their photo identity cards. Many of the voters were sent back home because they had brought old cards or had no documents at all. “Itna baar bola in logon ko. Samajhte hi nahin hain (Told him them so many times but they don’t understand at all),” said Akbar Miyan, a CPM worker at Rajabazar. “Koi dikkat nahin hai (There is no problem),” said Sheikh Mubarak, resident of Chamrusi lane. Till 1 pm, polling was brisk at all the three booths. “We are telling all the voters to display their voters identity card and the slip, so that no outsider can enter the booth. Everything is peaceful at the moment,” said Pargat Singh, the BSF official present at the booth.
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