Amid fierce contests and bitter exchanges of words during the second and final phase of polling in West Bengal on Wednesday, a rare scene of political warmth emerged in Nadia district.
A BJP candidate’s gesture of goodwill towards his rival Trinamool Congress workers in their camp came across as an unexpected moment of civility.
BJP candidate Nodeep and Hindu advocate Shruti Shekhar Goswami were seen interacting cordially with local TMC activists at their poll camp.
“Everyone is free to practice the politics of his choice throughout the day, but in the evening, people (of different political beliefs) should be able to sit together and have tea. Why should personal relationships be destroyed?” Goswami told PTI.
He added that people may support different political parties, but human relations should not be cut off.
The gesture has drawn appreciation from his rival camp as well.
A local TMC leader, sitting in the camp, said, “He (Goswami) is a respected religious figure and also a candidate for another party. We felt very relieved that he came and sat with us and spoke warmly. Political differences will remain, but this healthy conversation was good.”
TMC’s Pundarikakshya Saha is contesting from Nawadwip, an ancient town associated with the birth of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and the emergence of Vaishnav religion in Bengal.
More than a hundred kilometers away in Kolkata, saffron-clad ISKCON monks walked towards polling stations singing “Hare Krishna” and devotional songs to cast their votes.
“We remember God before doing anything,” said ISKCON Kolkata vice president and spokesperson Radha Raman Das.
The monks cast their votes at La Martiniere Boys School in the Chowringhi district, then showed their fingers in ink after participating in the democratic exercise.
Another striking scene emerged from St Mary’s School in Ripon Street in the same constituency, where Catholic nuns from the Missionaries of Charity arrived in the morning to vote.
The sisters, dressed in their distinctive white clothes with blue borders, quietly joined the queue with the other voters.
In another rare moment of warmth with rival party workers, BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari was seen drinking a sip of water at the TMC camp.
A video circulating on social media showed Adhikari stopping near a polling station decorated with TMC flags during his visit to Bhabanipur constituency and taking a sip of water from a 2-litre soft drink bottle.
However, PTI was unable to independently verify the clip.
The BJP leader was heard saying, “They called and offered me water. I took a sip and I am thirsty.”
The video caught attention online because it appeared on a day marked by sharp political exchanges and intense mobilization by both the BJP and the TMC in Bhabanipur, one of the most high-profile constituencies in the ongoing elections.
The constituency witnessed parallel visits by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Adhikari, with the two camps accusing each other of intimidation and electoral misconduct during the polls.
