Fifty-year-old Afsar Ali had vowed never to vote after a bullet killed his son Samiul Haque, 21, on April 10 when they were standing in queue in front of Amtali MSK (booth 5/126) in Jorpatki village under Sitalkuchi Assembly seat of Cooch Behar to exercise their franchise.
But the “compassionate words” of an elderly woman in a wheelchair changed his mind.
On Monday, the Cooch Behar district administration said repoll would be held in the Jorpatki booth, where firing by central forces on April 10 had left four youths dead, in the eighth and final phase of Bengal polls on April 29, as directed by the Election Commission.
His grief still raw, Afsar said he would vote, only because “Mamata Banerjee asked us to reply to bullets with ballots”. “I had initially thought I wouldn’t vote but eventually decided that my vote will be my reply to those who fired at Samiul and other three boys of our village Jorpatki and to those who said there would be more incidents like Sitalkuchi,” said Afsar.
After the firing, Mamata had rushed to Siliguri the same evening and planned to visit Mathabhanga subdivisional headquarters, under which Jorpatki village falls, to meet the bereaved families. She had to postpone her visit as the EC announced a 72-hour-ban on the entry of political leaders in Cooch Behar district. On April 14, when the ban lifted, Mamata rushed to Mathabhanga.
No BJP leader turned up at Mathabhanga or reached out to the bereaved families.
Many leaders of the BJP claimed Trinamul was not sympathetic to the family of Ananda Barman, who also died in a mob firing that same day in another booth of Sitalkuchi.
BJP state president Dilip Ghosh had said “jaygay jaygay Sitalkuchi hobe” (Sitalkuchi will happen in other places), for which the EC barred him from campaign for 24 hours.
Young Rahila Begum, who lost her husband Maniruzzaman Mian, is also determined to cast her vote on April 29.
“My vote will be against the atrocities of the central armed forces. They killed my husband for no reason. I will also vote with the hope that those who fired at villagers will be punished,” said Rahila.
On Tuesday, district administration officials reached the village with a dhaaki (drummer) and in an e-rickshaw, to announce the repoll date.
“Necessary arrangements will be made to ensure that the election stays peaceful, free and fair,” said a source in the district administration.
Local Trinamul leaders, when asked about the repolling, said they expected a higher turnout. There are around 960 voters in the booth.
“People remember what happened to the youths. Ramazan is on and many are fasting, but there is vigour among people to speak up against atrocities by casting their votes. They also want to vote for peace,” said Alizar Rehman, a Trinamul leader.