In pictures: India election graffiti
- Published
The eastern Indian state of West Bengal is well known for its political graffiti. It is no different in the ongoing marathon general election which ends on 12 May. A man in the state capital, Calcutta, speaks on his mobile phone sitting in front of a graffiti depicting prominent political figures.
Calcutta's political graffiti is known for its wit and humour. Political parties often have their own slogan writers. Here, a student walks past a graffiti lampooning some of India's top leaders.
Some, however, say the city's political graffiti lacks the bite and colour of the past. Most "wall writings", as they are locally called, now centre around the symbols of political parties and the names of the candidates. Even the graffiti of the Communist party, which ruled the state for over three decades before losing power in 2011, is no longer as lively as it used to be.
An Election Commission ban on political graffiti, banners, posters and the colourful wooden cut-outs of party symbols also means there are fewer graffiti than before though most political parties appear to have flouted the ban.
In the past, political parties would divvy up the space on public and private walls through informal negotiations months in advance of the polls and mark their pickings with a line like: "all wall Communist Party of India (Marxist) 1999-2002". Now the competition for wall space is less fierce.
Many in Calcutta say the authorities have rightfully not enforced the ban strictly this year. They say it smacks of a zeal to sanitise the public political arena.
Homeowners usually want their walls free of graffiti, but the parties, clearly, are not listening.
The ruling regional Trinamool Congress party is pitted against the main opposition Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress party in the state. The Congress party graffiti uses its party symbol, a hand, to woo the voters.
A local journalist says he hopes that the "witty" political graffiti of Calcutta will reappear on its walls. "With due permission of the owners of the walls, of course," he says.