The Stained Floodplains

In the calm foothills of the Eastern Himalayas, there is a storm brewing between the BJP and the TMC. The voters are divided

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Agnideb Bandyopadhyay in Cooch Behar and Alipurduar

THE waters of Torsha cradling the planned city of Cooch Behar have a royal story to tell. Like the rest of Bengal, the summers have a deep impact on the district-the diminishing river and dry loo blowing across the bustling heritage town was proof that summer had officially set in.

On the outskirts of the city, for miles, there is soothing lush greenery, with little huts and settlements dotting the buffer zones between fields. To the north of Cooch Behar lies Alipurduar, bordering Bhutan--the two share the floodplains of the Western Dooars, and the violent politics of the Himalayan foothills.

The huts and humble shops along the smooth roads connecting Cooch Behar, which see the locals come together at regular intervals, are adorned in innumerable bright Trinamool and BJP party flags lodged into the same gaps in a visually jarring yet spatial co-existence.

As the Lok Sabha elections approach, the situation in these districts, which were preparing to go to polls in the first phase on April 19, somewhat mirrors the flags in the same hole. Only here, both try to jostle past each other in brute displays of power, wooing strategies and claiming the headlines of the constituencies grappling with a contrast of noise and deafening silence.

The Rajbanshi Sway