Violence, threats and deaths have marked elections in Murshidabad. A TMC MP is visibly worried. Meanwhile, the Left and Congress are keen to essay their own comeback.

A video shared widely by the TMC purports to show footage taken by a hidden camera in which a Bharatiya Janata Party leader claims that the serious allegations of sexual crimes that had come forth from Sandeshkhali in the last few months were all false.

'People love me and believe in me because I don't steal public money and jump ship,' the Congress veteran tells The Wire.

This election, no other issue has captured the whole of the state as the recruitment scam involving teachers and non-teaching staff. Thousands have now lost jobs.

Residents of the quaint Bhutiya Basti and Gangutia Basti in the Buxa Hills lived quiet lives. Until a directive from the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

As the tea gardens go to votes, the pressing issues facing tea remain relegated to the sidelines.

Among those heard chanting 'Jai Shree Ram' slogans were TMC's sitting MPs, Dev Adhikari and Prasun Banerjee.

Fourteen candidates are vying for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat. Conspicuously absent from their discourse is any mention of safeguarding Darjeeling's local environment.

Days after the Citizenship Amendment Act was implemented on March 11, Bengal workers at Bhadrak district said that they were called 'foreign intruders', 'Rohingya' and 'Bangladeshis' and were subjected to physical violence by a Hindutva group.

With the state gearing up for the election, the Trinamool Congress has escalated its opposition to the CAA which has been a focal point of the Bharatiya Janata Party's agenda since 2019.

Majumdar's alleged involvement in an international drug smuggling ring and subsequent arrest now lead to questions over BJP's anti-corruption plank in the state.

Even before the BJP declared the candidate for the upcoming polls, women from the area were wary of the saffron party's campaign exploiting religious sentiments for political gains.

Across West Bengal, there is a sharp increase in suicide due to lottery addiction. While Future Gaming and Hotel Services has emerged as the top purchaser of electoral bonds, donating approximately Rs 1,368 crore to political parties, the Trinamool Congress is the second largest recipient of the bonds totalling Rs 1609 crore.

While Matua communities largely forming the Bangladeshi refugees in North 24 Parganas and Nadia are expressing relief and excitement, a starkly different picture emerges in North Bengal, particularly among the Rajbanshi community.

This decision keeps Trinamool Congress leader Sheikh Shahjahan, accused of instigating the attack, in CBI custody.

The protesters – who had been demonstrating at Dharmatala for over three years – saw Justice Ganguly as their final hope in the battle against corruption.

While the CID claims it is still investigating matters, affected families hold on to hope and several of the accused – said to have political connections – are out on bail.

The prime minister declared that the impact of the ‘Sandeshkhali storm’ has to reach every part of Bengal and called the allegations of sexual assault in the riverine village a ‘matter of shame’.

The Bengal-based company created a stir in 2022 by declaring it will be donating electoral bonds. In its AGM in July 2023, a senior company executive said that electoral bonds were paid 'as per our instructions from the government.'