Malda: Living amid the fear of smugglers and Border Security forces (BSF), villagers in the adjacent Indo-Bangladesh border in Malda district of West Bengal have now pinned their hopes on development post assembly elections.
The residents of Aiho, Rishipur and Srirampur gram panchayats of Malda work in Habibpur block to make their ends meet but cast their votes in Malda constituency. But till date, only residents of old Malda or Englis Bazar have represented their constituency.
Fed up with tall promises made by political parties, voters are now in this notion that local leaders only approach them during elections.
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Only West Bengal Congress President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and BJP MP Arjun Singh held a small meeting in these border areas. No other political leader has set their foot in these three panchayat areas.
"People of these three gram panchayats know that they do not have any MLA by their side. They come to meet us only during the election season," a local said.
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No large scale and aggressive campaigning or star campaigners were seen electioneering in these border areas. But the villagers still look forward to the election season and even did preparations in full swing for the festival of democracy.
Out of the total 2,45,305 voters in the Malda assembly constituency, 37,324 are residents of these three gram panchayats. These villagers play a significant role in these areas.
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