Thirty-nine days left before Calcutta votes for the Assembly elections, political parties are competing to claim the city’s walls.
Election graffiti, a vibrant art form in Calcutta that turns walls into political canvases and plays a crucial role in campaigning, is back in business.
Slogans and imagery have come up on walls. Metro took a tour and spoke to some party workers painting the walls.
Poll planks
The Trinamool Congress is banking heavily on its welfare schemes, particularly the popular Lakshmir Bhandar, which played a crucial role in the party’s spectacular victory in the 2021 Assembly elections.
“The Lakshmir Bhandar scheme is one of the most famous welfare schemes in the world. It has helped many women become financially independent. It will play a decisive role in our victory this time as well,” said Santanu Roy, a Trinamool worker from the Rashbehari constituency.
Trinamool supremo Mamata Banerjee is still the top draw for her party. A wall in Mudiali, also in the same constituency, celebrated Mamata as goddess Durga.
“Tomar dol e Amit-Modi, netay netay bhari; amar dol e akla durga, pnoyshottir (65) nari,” read the wall.
A rough translation: “Your party has Amit Shah and Narendra Modi, it is stacked with big leaders; our party has a lone Durga, in the form of a 65-year-old woman.”
The BJP walls offered jobs, targeting the young voters.
“Our priority is to ensure more job opportunities so that the youth do not have to depend on welfare schemes. Our graffiti will say as much. All eyes are on this seat, and our graffiti must keep up with that of the Trinamool,” said Uttam Das, a BJP worker in the Bhabanipur constituency.
Like Nandigram in 2021, Bhabanipur will be the Battle Royal of the 2026 Bengal polls, pitting Suvendu Adhikari against Mamata. In 2021, Adhikari defeated Mamata in Nandigram. This time, he is contesting from both Nandigram and Bhabanipur.
Corruption and polarisation are the focal points of the CPM’s wall campaign. “The Trinamool is corrupt from head to toe. The teacher recruitment scam is the biggest example of that. Government hospitals also face shortages of doctors and equipment. The BJP only divides people in the name of religion. Our fight is against both these parties,” said Buddhadeb Poddar, a CPM worker from Jadavpur.
He was part of a team of cadres painting walls in a Baghajatin bylane, part of the Jadavpur constituency, one of the seats where the once-formidable CPM still has a loyal vote bank.
Workload
Party workers have already stepped on the accelerator.
“We are trying to complete work on 10 to 15 walls every day. It is their love for the party that keeps them going,” said Utpal Saha, a local Trinamool leader in ward 88, which covers parts of Kalighat and Tollygunge.
BJP workers are not to be left behind
“We start working from 9am and continue till late evening, with a brief lunch break in between,” said Das, the BJP worker.
CPM party workers said competition over wall space often leads to clashes.
“Wall graffiti is a traditional marker of elections. But we often have to fight for space, as Trinamool and BJP often target walls earmarked for us,” said Poddar.
A CPM leader in south Calcutta said the party’s workers are driven by genuine passion and ideology.
“Trinamool and BJP workers have often switched sides. They are two sides of the same coin. We work late into the night, as many of our workers start painting the walls after returning from their offices. They are not doing it for money,” he said.