Significance of Polling Booths in North Bengal: Insights from Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, and Jalpaiguri

Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, and Jalpaiguri are three seats in north Bengal that were included in the first round of the Lok Sabha elections that began on Friday throughout India. For the SC, Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri are reserved, while for the ST, Alipurduar. For a variety of reasons, the booths in these three seats that The Telegraph visited have grown in significance.

Booth: 5/129 for the Lok Sabha seat of Cooch Behar.

Location: Jotpatki, Sitalkuchi, Cooch Behar; Amtali MSK (Madhyamik Siksha Kendra).

Under consideration: The firing of the CISF on April 10, 2021, during the Assembly election polling process at the booth with serial number 5/126 at the time. Violence broke out in the booth, and allegedly the central force opened fire. Four young Muslim men perished amid the gunfire.

Friday footage: Four CRPF officers and a state police officer had been watching over the booth since the morning. Some voters were afraid because of the tragedy that happened in 2021. A Trinamool leader in the area named Keshab Chandra Barman stated, "We gave them confidence and polling was peaceful." There are 1,022 voters in the booth. 848 of them reportedly cast ballots, according to sources.

Booths: 10/01 and 11/155 for the Lok Sabha seat in Alipurduar.

Location: In the Buxa Tiger Reserve in Alipurduar, the elementary schools Bhutiabusty and Gangutia Forest Village are situated.

Highlight: Voters will not be able to use these booths after this since they will be closing. The voters at these booths who were once residents of the reserve forest region have been moved and given rehabilitation under the auspices of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). They will cast ballots in booths at their new addresses starting with the following election.

Friday footage: About 30 kilometers from the site of their relocation, the voters are transported to the polling places by busses that the government has scheduled. Balloons and flowers were used to adorn the stalls. Each voter received lunch, a bottle of drinking water, and chocolates. Bhutiabusty has 76 voters, whereas Gangutia has 305 voters.

Many lingered for a while after voting out of nostalgia.

Booth: Jalpaiguri Lok Sabha seat number 18/176.

Mohantapara Netaji Primary School, Belakoba, Jalpaiguri is the location.

centered on: In the previous year's panchayat election, a gang of armed thugs broke into the voting booth. Voting papers had been burned on fire, and voting boxes had been seized. The poll workers and a few voters had closed the poll booth from within and were waiting for more police to arrive to free the individuals inside. Re-polling was eventually conducted in the booth.

Friday's video: One of the voters who had witnessed the attack in 2023, Bhalobasa Mondal, an elderly homemaker, had gone to cast her ballot on Friday. She mentioned the rural votes from 2023 and added, "There was utter turmoil then." "A few of us remained in the polling booth with the poll workers. As they burned the votes on fire, the assailants were cacophonously yelling. It was awful, the woman remarked.

On the other hand, she said that Friday's vote was orderly. "It's a good thing we won't have to cast another ballot. Due to security concerns, a large number of us abstained from voting during the re-election last year, according to Mondal.