Sarbik Ghosh, 60, a retired employee of the closed Dunlop factory, and a leader of the Citu (the CPM’s labour arm), spent over 12 hours inside a booth as a polling agent without a reliever on Saturday.

Nirmal Singh, 61, another retired employee and a Trinamul Congress trade union leader, had no time to leave the chair of a camp office of his party.

Such faces of veterans were seen representing their parties with a singular dream, that of a new industry on the land of the ghost of the Dunlop tyre factory at Sahaganj, closed permanently in 2016, preceding liquidation.

The old school buildings, damaged quarters and small roads amid long shrubbery turned colourful for now, as all political parties have decorated the area with campaign material.

Sources said the election on the factory premises turned colourful this year after Dunlop apparently was priorities by both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Mamata Banerjee, in their back-to-back rallies in Sahaganj, with promises of re-industrialisation of the state.

Modi had visited the Dunlop ground on February 22, while Mamata was at the same venue two days later. In the rare show of such urgency, retired and sacked employees found inspiration for optimism.

“Modi and Mamata both visited this time, but we have no difference. Here we don’t fight against each other over politics, but we are united with our demands for our dues and a new factory here, where newer generations will get jobs,” said Rameswar Singh, who was sitting with at least a dozen Dunlop employees in a Trinamul camp.

They said around the year, very few outsiders step on the premises.

Leaders said there were around 2,000 voters spread across three polling stations, all located on the 229-acre premises that have been around since 1936. Most of the vast area has turned forest-like, with dense bushes and big trees, besides debris of old buildings.

Ghosh, the Citu veteran, said he took the responsibility of the polling station as an agent after none else was found available. “With the ravages of time, the once glittering Dunlop factory is all but deserted. No youth volunteered to be a polling agent here and so I put my hand up. Yes, without any reliever for over 12 hours. I found some of the joy of the good old days in it,” said Ghosh.

“I had no reliever and so both Trinamul and the BJP offered me food they brought for their own agents. Dunlop used to carry this tradition and it is alive today…. I don’t know whether the Prime Minister or the chief minister will do something for us, but we have to live and fight for our demand” said Ghosh.

Sharma Dubey , 64, another retired employee, said there were three political camps among the employees, but the demands would be the same, before whoever wins. “I have dues of Rs 8.5 lakh. I am sitting in Trinamul’s camp, but my friends and former colleagues are with other parties. Whichever the winning camp is, will fight for our dues, for everyone,” he said.

Ankur Keshri, a youth, was an exception, seen guarding the lone BJP camp. “My father used to run a shop inside the factory. We used to run our home from the earnings of the shop. I am here with the BJP, hoping for better days for all of us.”