In Kathalberia village, about 35km from the heart of Calcutta, a family has grievances galore against the Mamata Banerjee government.

Rahiman Bibi can even rattle off a list of promises that have remained unfulfilled. But when it came to choosing the candidate on Saturday, the 67-year-old said she “voted for Didi”.

Rahiman said she feared any other party in power would disrupt the peace that she has been enjoying for decades in the small hamlet off Hatishala, hemmed by farmlands, ponds and sprawling green fields under Bhangar Assembly constituency.

She spoke of the “joy of living fearlessly with Hindu families”, of sharing Durga Puja’s prasad and shimui er payesh during Id or cooking vegetarian dishes with drumsticks gifted by neighbours.

“Amra ekhane sabai ek thalaye boshe khaai (Out here we share food from the same plate),” Rahiman said sitting on the steps of her modest house, pulling the pallu lower on her face. “The mornings begin with neighbours gathering in our courtyard for a round of tea. That is how we have been living for decades now. Eta paalte jete debo na (Won’t allow this to change).”

Rahiman and her family are among six who are surrounded by Hindu families in the interiors of Kathalberia in Bhangar. Her son Taslim Molla, a Class VIII dropout, is a labourer with a contractor in adjoining Rajarhat. Taslim’s wife Minara Bibi is the mother of two sons and the eldest is a Class XI student at Hatishala Junior High Madrasha.

The Trinamul Congress has fielded Rezaul Karim and sidelined Arabul Islam, the local party strongman, amid allegations of corruption against him.

Pitted against Karim is Naushad Siddiqui, the candidate from the Indian Secular Front, which many believe aims to effect a split in Muslim votes in Bhangar. BJP’s Soumi Hati has primarily campaigned in the Hindu pockets across the Assembly. Trinamul’s Abdur Rezzak Mollah had won the seat in 2016 by a margin of around 18,000.

On Saturday, as the conversation rolls on, Swapan Sardar, Taslim’s mate from his school days, joins the family. Early in the afternoon, all of them cast their votes in a booth nearby. “I learnt to read and write Arabic with Swapan during our days in the high madrasa. People now talk of all sorts of things on religious lines but we never felt any difference since our growing up days,” Taslim said setting besides his mother.

“Pujor chanda ditey toh kokhono kichhu mone hoy ni. Ora-o toh Holi te rang niye aashey (We have never felt anything while paying for puja subscription. Even they visit us during Holi with colours)”, Taslim said. “I am not that well read but we have decided to stay with this government. We don’t want things to change suddenly.”

Minara, Taslim’s wife leaves the conversation to join a few workers who have been busy building a makeshift hutment adjoining the house with bamboos and tiles. A few days back she has received the Swasthya Sathi card, she said. Other benefits have not reached the family, she said.

“The shimuyi er payesh during the Id has a different taste altogether,” Swapan said.