KOZHIKODE: Sajan Ali, 30, from Paschim Midnapur, a district on the banks of Kangsabati River of West Bengal, has packed his bags to catch the next train from Kozhikode. A daily wage earner, he wants to cast his vote in the staggered Assembly elections that began there this week.
He is one among thousands of Bengali migrant workers who do not want to waste their franchise and the trains to Kolkata are jam-packed with committed citizens like him. The rush is expected to continue till May 5, the last phase of polls.
Santragachi Express from Mangalore is the only direct train service from Kozhikode to Kolkata and that too only on Sundays. Usually, around 200 passengers book tickets from here, but last Sunday it was 355, and the Railways earned Rs 1.8 lakh more on the day.
There are two other trains to Kolkata via Shoranur, Nagercoil–Shalimar Gurudev Express and Ernakulam–Howrah Express. Reservation on these two is full for this month.
Mirjan Mohammed, another Bengali, from Murshidabad, is on his way back home to cast his valuable vote, see his sick father and spend some days with his family.
"It's double dhamaka for me. I get a chance to see my family and get my index finger an indelible mark,” an elated Mr Mohammed says. A hotel employee in Thrissur, he will first travel to Chennai and then catch a train to Kolkata as tickets are not available from here.
"I have been waiting on this platform for the past two days to get a ticket. But due to a high number of passengers I am forced to take a connection train,” he added. C.K. Sivadas, a Malayali candidate Trinamool Congress fielded from Jamuria constituency, said he had been getting calls from Bengalis in Kerala on the possibility of the party and on their plans to take part in his campaign.
“Our people are politically committed and will cast their vote at any cost,” he told DC on the telephone from Jamuria.
