Keen to cast her vote, Tanjila Bibi, accompanied by her three-year-old daughter, joins a long queue at a polling booth at Katadanga Primary School under Bhogali 2 gram panchayat in Bhangar near Kolkata on Wednesday.She says she is haunted by the violence that rocked the area during the panchayat poll counting on July 11, 2023, in which her 27-year-old husband Hassan Mollah was killed.“Only I know what I have lost in that election. Ten days after my husband’s death, I gave birth to my third child. I have to bring up my three children on my own,” Tanjila tells The Indian Express.Advertisement“But I have to vote in this Assembly election. I had also voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. But this time it seems to be different – security is unprecedented here now, and so are the queues. If such security had also been ensured in the 2023 panchayat polls, I would not have lost my husband,” she says, referring to the massive deployment of the Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel across the Muslim-dominated Bhangar Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas.Hassan Mollah was among three Indian Secular Front (ISF) supporters who were killed in the panchayat poll violence in Bhangar, which has often seen clashes between the activists of the ISF and the incumbent Trinamool Congress (TMC) in recent years. At least five people were killed in these clashes during the 2023 panchayat polls. Lalbanu Bibi (81), who lost her grandson in 2023 panchayat polls, after her vote in Kantadanga village in Bhangar assembly seat. (Express photo by Ravik Bhattacharya)Rise of ISFAdvertisementThe ISF, founded by the Furfura Sharif sufi shrine’s cleric Peerzada Abbas Siddiqui, made its debut in the 2021 Assembly elections, contesting in an alliance with the Left Front and Congress. While the Left and Congress failed to open their accounts, ISF chairman Naushad Siddiqui, Abbas’s younger brother, won from Bhangar, defeating the TMC’s Rezaul Karim by over 26,000 votes.In five years since, the ISF has expanded its footprint in some districts, making its mark in state politics. In the 2023 panchayat polls swept by the TMC, the ISF had put up a good showing in several Muslim pockets across the state, winning 43 seats in Bhangar.This time, the ISF has an alliance with the Left, with Naushad again contesting from Bhangar, even as the TMC has stepped up to wrest the seat from him. People stand in queue in Dakshin Kashipur Adarsha Vidyapith (school) in Bhangar assembly seat.Shifting sceneDuring Wednesday’s voting for the second phase of the West Bengal Assembly polls, Bhangar appeared to present a different scenario. Barring an incident where the central security personnel resorted to lathi charge to disperse a mob, polling remained peaceful amid a huge deployment of the CAPF and Kolkata police.“Many of us, mostly women, usually don’t vote fearing violence. Every year, we hear crude bombs being lobbed in the area from the poll eve that gets worse on polling day. But not this time. Police and central forces were everywhere. So we all went to the booth and voted. This time, voting was also important because of SIR (Special Intensive Revision) of electoral rolls,” says Lalbanu Bibi, the 81-year-old grandmother of Hassan.Tanjila says their family has been grappling with various problems, “Bhaijan (Naushad Siddiqui) helps us. But we are happy that in this election there have been no reports of any casualties,”she adds.The CPI(ML)-Mass Line’s candidate Mirza Hassan says, “Now, no one would be able to blame any poll rigging or misconduct. Everyone, including myself, thought that conducting a free and fair election in Bhangar was impossible. They have been proved wrong.”Earlier in the day, Naushad visited two polling booths in Pranganj. TMC workers raised “Jai Bangla” slogans as they charged at him. The central security personnel had to use batons to disperse them. Women Voters stand at a long queue at Kantadanga Primary school in Bhangar. (Express photo by Ravik Bhattacharya)“I requested the central force to intervene when TMC workers abused me while I was getting into my car… TMC is absolutely rattled. People could not vote in the 2023 panchayat elections and the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. And now when they are finally voting, they will vote against TMC and in our favour,” claims Naushad.TMC candidate Shaokat Mollah also says, “The election was peaceful in Bhangar”, adding that “we will win with a comfortable margin”.The polling station at Kanthalia High School, which was an epicentre of violence during the 2023 panchayat polls, was surrounded by the CAPF and police personnel.A local resident, Mohammed Irfan Ali, 45, standing in a queue at this school, says, “We can’t imagine we can vote in such a peaceful atmosphere. Even during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, there was tension and fear as we came here to cast our votes.”Long queues were also seen in Dakshin Kashipur Adarsha Vidyapith since the morning. “Everyone is standing here to cast their franchise and there is no fear in their faces. This time no one knows what will be the result because everyone is voting freely,” says Rohana Bibi, 45. Of the booth’s 1,200 electors, 500 voters already voted by noon.Smooth polling was also seen across Bhogali-I, Bhogali-II, Polerhat, Machcibhanga, Bhumru, Shonpur in the constituency through the day.