Farid Moghal, a 39-year-old resident of Cooch Behar district, didn’t vote on April 19 when Parliament elections were held in his area. He will vote on May 7 when polling will be conducted in the Kokrajhar Lok Sabha segment in the neighbouring state of Assam.

In Cooch Behar, especially in the Tufanganj subdivision, there are over 200 such people who have been voting in Assam for years.

“I run a pharmacy shop in my village but simultaneously, I am the secretary of the VDP (village defence party) in Assam. Earlier, I had included my name in the electoral roll of Assam and as I regularly visit Kokrajhar district, I haven’t transferred my name to Bengal,” said Farid, a resident of Purba Falimari village which is under the jurisdiction of Boxirhat police station in Cooch Behar district.

VDPs were created in Assam to help local police in law and order.

Like Farid, there are many others in the village who vote in Assam. Some of them have served in Assam or are still working there.

“I was a teacher at a primary school in Kokrajhar. After retirement, I returned to my native village. However, I didn’t transfer my name because on and off, I need to go to Assam for different errands,” said Wazed Hossain Sheikh, a retired school teacher at Purba Falimari.

Abdul Malik Sheikh, who is a teacher at a primary school in Bangshapur, a village in Assam near the inter-state border, is another voter in Assam.

“Every day, I go to school from Purba Falimari. As I have studied in Assam and also got a job there, I felt it to continue as a voter of Assam. So far, we haven’t faced any problems,” he said.

The villagers said the location of Purba Falimari makes them more dependent on Assam.

“This is because it takes a minute to walk to Assam for any need. On the other hand, to reach the Tufanganj 2 BDO office (the village comes under this block), we have to cross the Sankosh river. It takes almost an hour. For daily necessities, we make purchases in Assam. Also, there are many who have studied at schools in Assam. Over the years, they have enrolled themselves as voters of Assam,” said Abu Sayed Mondal, a Trinamool Congress panchayat member of the village.

He pointed out that because of the village's proximity to Assam, the Bengal government had taken the help of the Assam power department to provide electricity to their village.

“Or else, power cables had to be brought across the Sankosh river. We are about to get power for the first time. Electric poles have been installed and the work to lay power cables would be taken up soon, he said.

Like Kokrajhar, there are also some voters in the Dhubri Lok Sabha segment who live in Bengal.

“Around 100 people of Chhat Falimari and Laukuthi villages which are contiguous with Jongbandha, a village in Dhubri district, vote in Assam. Most of them have shifted to these places from Assam but have not transferred their names,” said Sushanta Barman, a trader in Boxirhat who frequently visits Assam for business purposes.

He has pointed out that a contrasting scene is also witnessed when elections are held in Bengal.

“Marriages among residents of the bordering villages of both Bengal and Assam are common. During elections, groups of women, who are from Cooch Behar but got married in Assam, come here to cast their votes,” Barman said.