West Bengal Assembly polls: Political parties go all out to woo enclave voters

All political parties are scrambling to take credit for resolving the enclave problems

With the enclave residents all set to vote for the first time since Independence, the new voters are being aggressively wooed by various political parties, who are taking credit for resolving the 68-year old border dispute.

"It is our government which has resolved this enclave problem. None of the previous state governments could address the same. But we had solved this problem and given you the rights," Trinamool Congress (TMC) supremo Mamata Banerjee said at various rallies in Coochbehar district.

Banerjee's comments are echoed by party's district President Rabindranath Ghosh who promised to usher in development if TMC won in Coochbehar.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is heading the National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre, also took the credit of resolving the enclave problems.

"It was our government at the Centre that took the initiative and solved the problem. We have been with the people of enclaves from the very beginning and our government has been very proactive," BJP National Secretary Rahul Sinha said.

The 51 enclaves are spread across Dinhata, Mekliganj, Sitai, Sitalkuchi and Toofanganj Assembly constituencies, with over 14,864 residents, has over 9,776 registered voters.

The six Assembly constituencies were Mekhliganj (584), Sitalkuchi (1,980), Sitai (1,362), Dinhata (5,605), Natabari (0) and Tufanganj (9).

Out of 9,540 eligible voters, 9,209 enrolled themselves to vote on May 5 in 41 polling stations. There were 567 more voters among the 922 people in the settlements in Coochbehar.

In the Sitalkuchi and Sitai Assembly constituencies, where TMC and its then alliance partner Congress had won with a slender margin of 257 and 1,577 votes, respectively, in last assembly polls, the votes of enclave dwellers could play a vital role as well as in Dinhata.

Striking a different note, the CPI(M), however, refuted the claims by TMC and BJP and said that both the parties had stalled the enclave exchange during the United Progressive Alliance rule.

"Both the parties have stalled the process of enclave exchange during UPA rule. It was the rehabilitation package that ensured that the state agreed to give a nod to the enclave exchange," CPI(M) Politburo member Mohammed Salim said.