In Bengal, where progress ends, polarisation around the corner

Sitting in a plush hotel in Purulia, Prosenjit Roy, the principal of a private school, says, “Purulia has changed in the last 10-12 years, with new hotels, shops, and restaurants. People have access to modern amenities and luxury. The standard of living and cost of living have become better.”

A sleepy mofussil town town till at least 12 years ago, Purulia has transformed into a bustling town. The town, earlier known for its Sainik School and the 1994 arms drop case, is now a gateway for tourists looking to get to “Ajodhya Pahar” — the Ayodhya hills located about 50 km from Purulia town. Once a hotbed of Maoists, the picturesque Ajodhya Pahar now boasts of resorts and hotels with swimming pools and modern amenities. A room in the plush Kushal Palli resort can go for Rs 40,000 a night during peak season, with bookings hard to come by.

About 90 km away in Asansol, Harshwardhan Gupta, a second-generation businessman in the first and only air-conditioned market in the town, flags “Hindu-Muslim tension” as one of the major election issues in West Bengal. But, he frames it differently. While there is tension between the two communities at the political level, he says there is a strong sense of community at the local level. “My father is in the hospital, and we need blood right now. In the morning, when I asked for two units of blood, two people who came forward were Muslims,” he says.

The story of West Bengal’s politics is a complex narrative of glitzy development in many parts and communal disharmony in some, with both visible and top of the mind for many. And both dominate mind space in an increasingly aspirational and contested political landscape.

As The Indian Express travelled through Bankura, Purulia, Asansol, Durgapur, and