Pandemic fails to douse election fever in Bengal

Times of Bennett | Updated: May 22, 2021 17:40

By Arshiya Rabbani

SILIGURI: WestBengal is gearing up for Assembly elections, considered to be the toughest due to the ongoing pandemic.

Goalpokher, an Assembly constituency in Uttar Dinajpur district will have its elections in April 2021. For the past 10 years, Trinamool Congress is ruling in Goalpokher with Ghulam Rabbani as its MLA.

Karim Chowdhury, former Minister for Mass Media Extension and Library Services in the West Bengal Government and the present MLA said that “the upcoming elections of 2021 will the toughest due to the pandemic which is refusing to die out.”

According to him, the candidates did not get enough time for canvassing. Meetings, rallies, and parties were not permitted, which resulted in lesser interaction with the people.

“The TMC has been the ruling party for the past 10 years and will continue to rule. MD Ghulam Rabbani, former Labour Minister, has a high chance of winning again. The position he holds is very strong and people respect him a lot. I wish him all the best for the elections,” Chowdhury said.

MD Rasul, a member of the Panchayat Samiti, from the Goalpokher constituency, however, refused to be put down by the prevailing conditions due to the pandemic.

“Despite the current situation the world is facing, elections in Goalpokher will not be any different. Yes, there has been very less interaction with the candidate for the past year, but we will always support Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her candidate,” Rasul said.

Keeping all the pandemic precautions in mind, the members of the Panchayat Samiti, including Rasul, are busy preparing for the voting day in their constituency.

Dilip Ghosh, a 50-year-old voter from Goalpokher said: “This place is my land. I was born and brought up here. Before the TMC Government, the condition of my village was very bad. We hardly had any educational institutions, medical help or electricity. But now our village is well-maintained and it is more like a town. We have been and will continue to support our candidate,” he said.

According to a cross-section of people this reporter spoke to, despite there being minimal interaction with the party representative, the developmental work carried out by Rabbani “is enough for us to vote for him. In the run-up for the elections, we attended three-party meetings with proper safety measures. This time, we are making sure that the turnout is high and maximum votes come to our candidate,” Ghosh asserted.

“Despite the danger of getting infected by the Coronavirus, people are determined to make their representatives win with a larger margin. Hence, we are hoping to have a safe and fair election,” he concluded.

The story first appeared in The Times of Bennett, the lab newspaper produced by the first semester students of The Times School of Media.

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