Kolkata streets turn quiet on voting day under tight security, pandemic-like calm
In pictures: Pandemic-like hush descends on Kolkata streets on polling day
Central Kolkata slips into an uncanny calm under tight security
Jaismita Alexander, Mohul Bhattacharya
Published 29.04.26, 03:42 PM
1
9
By early afternoon on poll day, central Kolkata, usually a beehive of activity, seemed to slow down, exhale and fall still. The urgency of the morning queues in front of polling booths had ebbed, replaced by an eerie silence across the city’s busiest streets.
Images: Mohul Bhattacharya
ADVERTISEMENT
2
9
At Esplanade and Chandni Chowk, where honking traffic and chatter of the crowd collide daily, on Wednesday afternoon, the streets were deserted, save a few pedestrians.
3
9
Barricades marked entry points, and the CRPF stood on watch within the 100 metres of polling booths.
4
9
Dacres Lane and Bentinck Street, otherwise crowded with office-goers and lunch-hour crowds, had their shutters down. Shops closed, making the narrow pavements feel wider than usual.
5
9
The emptiness had a faint echo of the pandemic years, when the city had learned to stay indoors.
6
9
With their votes cast early, many residents appeared to have claimed the rest of the day as a break.
7
9
A man slept on the steps of a closed storefront, unbothered, while a hand-pulled rickshaw puller leaned back into his seat, catching a quick rest.
8
9
In another lane, a group of young men turned the empty road into a makeshift cricket pitch, their laughter cutting through the silence.
9
9
New Market, usually a maelstrom of people, cars, hawkers and more, wears a deserted look on Wednesday
