High stakes West Bengal polls see many firsts
As we wait for the results, on 4 May, there is tremendous trepidation. Not only are the politicians keeping their fingers crossed, the public who voted in such large numbers are also anticipating.
Will the BJP finally be able to colour outside the lines in West Bengal this time?
The expected colour of celebration certainly suggests so.
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As election paraphernalia subtly shifts from flags and festoons, and gamchcha and topis, to sweets and gulal in anticipation of outcomes, saffron is dominating.
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Making the most of the election season, sitting in the narrow lanes of dingy Burrabazar, following sagging, low-hanging wires winding from building to building, gulal makers are busy negotiating order in saffron.
Khengrapatty too seems to follow the cue.
Given the proverbial political violence and culture of retribution in Kolkata, gulal-makers told The Statesman that nearly 90 per cent of the abir-gulal sold in the past fortnight has been saffron or orange. Green has not found favour; it’s been the colour of Muslim-dwelling TMC, earlier the Left.
Talking to The Statesman on Tuesday, Babulal Mahnot, owner of a reputed wholesale gulal shop in Burrabazar, said: “For the past fortnight, the demand for orange colour herbal gulals has been unusually high. During 2016 and the 2021 assembly elections, the lion’s share of the market had been captured by green gulal.”
“We have stopped procuring other colours at this moment and only concentrating on orange colour, as its market share has gone up to almost 90 percent. Our stockists and retail sellers are coming from the districts and picking up bags of orange gulal. About ten percent demand is for green gulal. During previous elections, there were demands for other colours too including red., but this year it’s only orange. The other colour bags are now going back to the godowns,” he added.
Mahnot further said that right now the complete stock of orange gulal has been exhausted and it will take a couple of days for fresh orders to be delivered.
“The demand was already high, but with counting date nearing, demand and orders have gone through the roof. We can barely keep pace.”
Retail shop owners from faraway places of the state like Bolpur-Santiniketan, Howrah, Ganga Sagar, Ranaghat, Contai, Raghunathpur, Bishnupur, Asansol, Purulia, Jhargram, Nandigram are all preferring to stock orange gulal as they are receiving orders.
For the past 150 years, the Partabmull Gobindram outlet has been selling authentic and eco-friendly gulal to the customers. Its owner Sarita Bhansaly also echoed the same sentiment.
The scenario is the same at Ideal Enterprises, Mayuri, Om Sai Enterprise, Drolia Chemicals in Burra Bazar and Sharma Stores in Khengrapatti. Herbal and skin-friendly options are particularly preferred, with many suppliers offering non-toxic, eco-friendly varieties to customers.
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