The very conditions that led to elections in Bihar and UP in the 1970s–90s being labelled as “jungle raj”, intimidation, political violence, and coercion, continue to persist in Bengal today.
Senior leaders from TMC have openly issued threats. Statements like “4 May ke baad koi bachane nahi aayega” or even “gala kaat denge” are part of mainstream political messaging. The scale of unrest is such that around 2.5 lakh central forces have had to be deployed for just elections, a figure that approaches nearly 70% of the total counter-terrorism forces stationed in Kashmir.
What makes this situation intellectually inconsistent is the selective moral framing. States once dismissed as “backward" have eliminated electoral violence over time. Meanwhile, a state projected as “progressive” has become a persistent centre of political intimidation. Yet, instead of being critiqued, this is frequently rationalized, dismissed as “resistance,” romanticized as political culture, or normalized with a casual “aise hi hota hai yahan.”
No comedian, no web series, and no film dares to touch this contradiction.