In a virtual no-man's land ever since India became independent in 1947, more than 9,500 persons living in 51 enclaves in Coochbehar district are exercising their franchise for the first time on May 5.
Excitement is palpable among the voters, who till recently belonged to no country and hence were devoid of any right belonging to a citizen.
Among the 9,776 people from Cooch Behar who are set to vote for the first time on Thursday in the sixth phase of assembly polls in West Bengal is 103-year-old Asgar Ali.
Beaming with pride, Ali happily posed for cameras while flashing the ink mark on his index finger.
"It is like a dream come true for me. I am satisfied now but not sure whether I will be there during next elections," he told media persons.
Accompanying him was his 24-year-old grandson Jaynal Abedin who said his grandfather was very excited ever since he got his voter identity card.
Ali has two sons, five daughters and a number of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
"Since nobody from our family or our neighbourhood had ever voted, we didn't knew how to cast vote. But we got help from polling officials who explained us everything," Abedin said.
Asked about his feeling at getting the opportunity to cast vote for the first time, he said, "We have only seen elections, but never took part. Most interestingly, three generations of our family will vote together."
Asked about what they were looking forward to from their elected representative, Abedin said one of the demands of the people of the region has been reservation in government jobs, irrespective of religion.
"We also want that all contracts for development work like construction of roads, buildings, hospitals and schools in the enclaves should be given to local residents only."
The Election Commission had made special arrangements and awareness programs for the first-time voters.
The enclaves were exchanged in accordance with the India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement, 1974 and 100th Amendment Act.
During this historic land swap all the 51 Bangladeshi Enclaves (area: 7110.02 acres, population: 14,8641) were annexed with the Coach Behar district in West Bengal on the midnight of July 31, 2015. Similarly all 111 Indian enclaves (area: 17160.63 acres, population: 41,088) were annexed with Bangladesh.
Subsequently all the 14,864 people of Bangladesh enclaves, who have opted to stay in India, were given Indian citizenship and are now settled in their erstwhile enclave area.
A total of 990 people (221 families) from Indian Enclaves initially opted to retain Indian citizenship, but only 922 people (201 families) among them entered India, and they have been settled in three Resettlement Camps located at Mekhliganj (198 people of 47 families), Haldibari (479 people of 96 families) and Dinhata (245 persons of 58 families) in Cooch Behar district.
In total, 15,786 people have been added to the existing population of the district.
Voting is being held for the sixth and final phase of the West Bengal assembly elections for 25 seats, including 16 in Purba Medinipur and nine in Cooch Behar districts.
In all, 67 candidates are in the fray for nine seats in Coochbehar, 12 of them independents.
In Purba Medinipur, a total of 103 candidates are vying for 16 seats, including 12 Independents.
In Thursday's polling, over 58 lakh voters will decide the political future of 170 candidates, including 18 women by casting their votes at 6,774 polling stations.
The Election Commission has arranged strict security measures for the final day of voting. In all, 361 companies of Central security forces have been deployed in both the districts.
In Purba Medinipur, 7,500 state police personnel and in Coochbehar 4,500 policemen have been deployed to assist the central forces.
Image: 103-year-old Asgar Ali enters the polling booth to cast his vote for the first time. Video Grab: ANI
