Kolkata and Salt Lake go to the polls on Wednesday, but for commuters travelling to homes and offices through the stalled Chingrighata Metro site, the bigger hope is that the end of voting will clear the way for work on the long-delayed Orange Line to resume.

Govindo, 40, sits in a cramped, makeshift room tucked beneath the towering concrete skeletons of what should have been Kolkata’s most transformative transit project.

For a year, this small enclosure has been his world.

A worker contracted by the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd (RVNL), who has spent nine years building the city's metro, now finds himself a reluctant observer of a stagnant skyline.

The RVNL staff says that they are paying a rent of Rs 30,000 per day for the project.

"I am a worker. I’ve been in this room for a year," Govindo said, gesturing to the silent heavy machinery outside. "The work has stopped due to politics."

The "politics" Govindo refers to are the high-stakes jurisdictional battle over a 366-metre gap in the Orange Line Metro at the Chingrighata junction.

For over 12 months, a massive 300-metric-tonne girder launcher has sat idle atop the EM Bypass, a monument to a feud between the RVNL and the Bengal government.

Sujoy Haldar, a staff member with RVNL, watches the financial haemorrhage from the front lines.

RVNL is losing approximately Rs 30,000 every day just to keep the idle launcher on-site. Over the course of the year, these idling charges, combined with broader project delays, have cost the public exchequer hundreds of crores.

The 366 mt stretch which is still pending NOC for work to start

"Due to politics, work has stopped," Haldar said, echoing Govindo's frustration. "There is a 366-metre gap... RVNL is losing over 30,000 per day. Work is supposed to start from 15th May."

The "NOC", or No Objection Certificate, from the Kolkata Traffic Police has been the project’s white whale.

The state government consistently denied the clearance, citing traffic congestion, religious festivals, and board exams.

The Supreme Court recently pulled up the state for "politicising a development issue" and exhibiting an "obstinate attitude".

The delay has become a potent weapon in the ongoing election cycle.

No full-fledged work, but basic regular maintenance is going on

The BJP has repeatedly used the Chingrighata bottleneck in its campaigning, framing the stalled Metro as a symbol of the Trinamool’s alleged resistance to central development projects.

At the site, the wait is often tied to the ballot box. A local traffic officer, when asked about the restart, noted they were "waiting for the election". When asked about the traffic jam, he said, "You know how famous the traffic jams here are…but it has recently gotten much better.”

Multiple meetings between RVNL, Metro Bhawan, and traffic police were held to reopen the stalled project in November 2025, but it was stopped again on the excuse of festivities and exams.

The human displacement often cited as a hurdle has been quiet. While critics point to the removal of settlements, local residents noted that the impact was minimal. "Only 4-5 families were moved to flats," one local resident said, adding that the displaced families received compensation, and beyond these families, no other houses have been affected and will not be affected in the future either.

For the workers living in the shadow of the stalled viaduct, the resolution cannot come soon enough. Following the Supreme Court’s intervention, there is a new date on the calendar. "15th May will start," Sujoy said with cautious optimism.