103-year-old Mohammed Asgar Ali has waited not just years but decades to vote for the first time in spite of being an Indian citizen all his life.
For nearly 10,000 voters in Cooch Behar, this election is the opportunity of a lifetime. Literally. Despite having reached eligible voting age years ago, they are voting for the first time.
103-year-old Mohammed Asgar Ali has waited not just years but decades to vote for the first time in spite of being an Indian citizen all his life. Not just him, three generations from his family voted with him for the first time, creating history and possibly a record too.
A beaming Mr Ali told NDTV, "I am very happy today after casting my vote. I want to bless everyone who has made this possible in my lifetime. May Allah bless them."
Additional District Magistrate Ayesha Rani told NDTV, "There are 9,776 first time voters. 9,209 of them are from the Bangladesh enclaves who were geographically in India. 567 Indians from enclaves who were geographically in Bangladesh have also been given the right to vote this time. We have trained them on what to do to cast their vote and how to use an EVM."
After India and Bangladesh signed a land boundary agreement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka last year, residents of the enclaves are ecstatic about being able to vote.
A 55-year-old relative of Mr Ali said, "I feel like I am 18 today after being able to cast my vote. It feels great after being trapped all these years and not knowing where we belong in spite of being Indians."
But, there are those who got left out. Around 25 people did not receive voter ID cards and were not allowed to vote. In one case, a man cast his vote but his brother couldn't. Abdul Shaikh, who was up in the morning to cast his vote, told NDTV, "It feels nice to be able to cast my vote after so many years but I wish my entire family could vote." His brother, Shah Jahan, told NDTV, "We have been in this struggle together. I wish I could go and vote with my brother."
Ending more than four decades of wait, India and Bangladesh started the exchange of 162 adversely-held enclaves last year, marking the start of implementation of their landmark Land Boundary Agreement (LBA).
While India will handed over 51 enclaves, comprising 7,110 acres to Bangladesh, it got 111 enclaves comprising around 17,160 acres.