Amid the intense ongoing polling in phase one of the West Bengal Assembly elections 2026, a unique visitor — an elephant named Ramji — joined the queue in the early morning when locals gathered to cast their votes in the forest belt of Jhargram. The elephant’s presence at the booth left many worried, while the majority enjoyed calling him a blessing from God.
Ramji stole the spotlight briefly before moving away from the polling booth.
The officials who came to perform their duty were still settling in, while voters were forming the queue when Ramji — swaying past the queue, peering curiously at a parked vehicle, and momentarily holding up the democratic exercise with his own brand of silent assertion — arrived.
For a state accustomed to political heavyweights flexing their muscle during elections, this was a different kind of “show of strength”.
The forest officials quickly rushed in from the Lodhashuli range and gently nudged the tusker away to a safe distance, clearing the way for polling to begin.
The voters saw a massive animal from the deep forest coming out and stealing the show for some time before he was taken back to his territory by the officials.
By 11 am, around 41 per cent turnout was recorded across the 152 constituencies in the first phase, with officials describing the process as largely peaceful, barring a few stray incidents reported overnight.
‘Ramji’, locals say, is no stranger to these parts. Known for his solitary wanderings across Jhargram, PaschimMedinipur, Bankura, and even neighbouring Odisha and Jharkhand, the tusker is often welcomed by villagers with offerings of paddy, fruits, and vegetables.
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