Elections!

There can be no doubt that it has been election season in West Bengal, and it is equally clear that Indians have embraced democracy wholeheartedly. In the last couple of weeks Kolkata has become, if possible, even more colourful, noisy and vibrating with activity. I was wrong to assume that the area in which I am living is a Communist Party stronghold though, – the Trinamul Congress (TMC) party have made significant inroads with their own flag providing activities. Now, each shop and building not only has several red and white hammer and sickle flags, but also the green, white and orange flags of the TMC party. It seems I myself have divided loyalties, as both a Communist and a TMC flag appeared overnight outside my house. The TMC has one up on the Communists (CPI (M) as they have a huge flag suspended between two buildings and hanging above the street. But, then, on the other hand there is a hammer and sickle in fairy lights near my office. And it is not only the flag business that has seen such an exponential rise in activity in the last few weeks. The loudspeakers down every street have been in use almost every evening, with men (and a few women) exhorting people to vote for them (well I think this is what they are saying, not too sure on the precise content given they are speaking in Bengali). It is clear though that as the evening wears on the speaker gets more and more frenzied. Loud music is also played, and processions and rallies have been noisily evident as well – drums, cheering, that sort of thing. Thankfully there must be a ban on rallies after 10 o’clock, but even so, four hours of almost continuous Bengali exhortations has been slightly too much of a good thing, particularly as the lack of glass in my windows has meant that I have been unable to significantly reduce the volume of noise.

The actual elections were last Sunday, and I stayed in all day as I wasn’t too sure how tense the situation would be. The headlines in the newspapers the next day said how peaceful it had been – most previous elections had seen ‘bombs and bullets’, but these had thankfully not been evident this time (except for one instance when a policeman had started shooting at someone).
The election results came out on Wednesday, and it was expected to be tenser. Judith and I went out for lunch: the situation didn’t seem very different from normal apart from a number of young men covered in red paint zooming down the streets on motorcycles, and a greater police presence. Other parts of the city saw hundreds of people come out en masse: it was an overwhelming victory for the TMC. My area elected a CPI (M) guy, so apparently it is predominantly Communist. I haven’t been aware of particular tensions when walking down my street, but then I am a foreigner and blissfully unaware of what is happening underneath the surface. Interesting times.