Life has changed for her since then. For the past few weeks she woke up in the wee hours and after offering her prayers, she would meet groups of people in villages all around Nandigram and attend meetings.

“Now I return home between 9 to 10 at night, which is unimaginable for a woman coming from a household like mine. People now throng my house day and night. They extend their support and push me on,” Bibi adds.

Her family too has extended full support to her. Her husband, Sheikh Munirul Islam, a retired KOPT employee and her elder son, Sheikh Zahirul Islam, both accompanied her in her campaigns. “It is not an election, but a noble cause for our family. We all want her to win,” says Islam.

Bibi has not only taken on her seasoned rivals, but her popularity has exceeded that of others. In fact, she has quite a following in Nandigram.

For her Left Front opponent, hard calculations will win him the seat. “She is a political novice. Elections are not won by emotions but by voters. I am sure to win, because, PDCI and TMC have pitted separate candidates and their vote will be divided. Whereas our Left Front vote is intact,” says Bharati.

Badshah Alam, who initially was with the CPM, later changed ranks and joined BJP. He is now the candidate for Siddiqullah Chowdhury’s PDCI. He, too, is equally confident that he will win.

“I will win simply because people have lost faith in both the CPM and the Trinamool. I will also get the minority votes,” Alam says.