Calcuttans came out in good numbers to cast their votes on Monday despite the Covid-19 threat and many of them said this election was more than a battle for political power.

Outside a polling booth in Bhowanipore, financial consultant Alka Karnani said: “Diwali dinner at our home is incomplete without our Muslim friends. Similarly, we go to their places during Id celebrations.”

“We must preserve the inclusive culture of Calcutta against an onslaught of religious polarisation,” said Shiv Karnani, a resident of Nafar Kundu Road.

Shiv and his wife Alka voted at a booth in Bakulbagan, a stone’s throw from their home.

Shiv’s ancestors trace their roots to Rajasthan but moved to Bengal over 200 years ago. “When I go to Rajasthan now, I go there as a tourist. Calcutta is my home,” said the 57-year-old, who is in the medical equipment industry.

The couple have two sons, the elder one settled abroad. “We also want our children to get jobs here. So that they don’t have to leave home for jobs,” Alka said.

A sizeable presence of senior citizens and women was seen in queues outside many polling booths on Monday.

(Left) Sambhu Nath Dutta, 86, outside a polling station in Bhowanipore; Sukriti Dutta outside a booth on Sarat Bose Road. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

An old man, walking with a stick, came out of a booth on Ramesh Mitra Road in Bhowanipore around 11am.

The April sun was scorching and the man paused to rest for a few seconds after every few steps. On seeing a couple of TV cameras, he flashed his left index finger marked with the poll ink.

“Some of my family members and neighbours were sceptical about me stepping out to vote. But I was bent on voting. Voting gives me a reassurance that I am still not invalid,” said Sambhu Nath Dutta, 86, a resident of Puddapukur in Bhowanipore.

Asked what the main issue that influenced his voting was, Dutta replied: “I voted for a Bengal where everyone can live together peacefully, a Bengal without violence.”

The Election Commission had arranged for postal ballots at home for voters aged above 80. But Dutta said he was not aware of the provision.

Debdatta and Kabita Mukherjee outside the polling booth at South City International School

At the polling station in Deshbandhu College for Women off Rashbehari Avenue, the queue of voters stretched around 100 metres around noon. Several voters stood under umbrellas.

At the Institute of Jute Technology on Ballygunge Circular Road, the polling booth was busy since early morning. The queue of women voters was much longer than that of men.

From Chetla to Lake Gardens, polling stations were busy for most of the day.

Till 5pm, the voter turnout percentage in Calcutta was around 60 per cent, according to the EC.

Sukriti Dutta, 20, a first-time voter, stepped out of a polling booth on Sarat Bose Road around 10.30am.

The BSc student, a resident of Manoharpukur, said women’s safety was one of the main issues for her. “I can return home safely after 10pm now. I voted to keep things that way,” she said.

The polling booth at South City International School was also busy.

Debdatta Mukherjee, 64, a Poddarnagar resident, had come to vote at the booth with wife Kabita, 60.

“The communal polarisation we are witnessing threatens to tear apart the ‘politically conscious’ badge that Bengalis love to flaunt. There are no jobs here, there is no industry. Social harmony is the only asset that we have in Bengal. We must protect it,” said Debdatta, a chemical engineer from Jadavpur University.

Voters’ Voice

Ridhhisha Halder, all of seven months, made her way to a polling station in Bhowanipore on Monday morning, in her mother’s arms. “There is no one to look after her at home. We could not miss voting. So, here we are,” said her mother Urmila, a homemaker. Her husband Ritesh said the vote was important because it was a battle between locals and outsiders. “We are not perfect. But we are happy. We don’t need the ‘Sonar Bangla’ projected by leaders from Delhi. They will turn Bengal into a land of strife and unrest,” said Ritesh.

Md Tarique Ahmed, 28, a marketing professional, cast his vote at Lady Brabourne College in Park Circus. He said that Bengal would not fall to the politics of polarisation. “The BJP relies on a tried and tested formula — division of people along religious lines. The party has done the same in other states. But it will not work in Bengal,” he said.

Anirban Ganguly, 31, a Ballygunge resident, had come to cast his vote at a polling booth at South Calcutta Law College. He stressed the need to ramp
up the healthcare infrastructure. “The Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the ramshackle state of our healthcare system. Any government, at the state or Centre, should concentrate on affordable healthcare for all,” said Ganguly, who works in the travel and tourism sector.

Sreedita Dasgupta, a first-time voter, and mother Srabanti had come to cast their votes at South City International School. Sreedita, a BTech student at a private engineering college, said she wanted enough jobs in her home state. “Young people studying here should not have to leave the state in search of jobs. I want the new government to ensure that,” she said. Her mother said: “Manush e manush e hingsha jano bondho hoye (Violence among humans should stop).”

Pictures by Gautam Bose and Bishwarup Dutta