Political camps, lined up by parties 200m away from polling booths, are hotbeds of action. Often more than one camp is set up at a spot and so interaction between them is unavoidable. At some sites, people at camps glare at each other, some even go and pick fights. But some go over, also, for friendly chats and to share tiffin despite ideological differences.

“The purpose of these tents is to help voters who may need information about their booths,” said councilor Kakali Saha, who sat at the TMC camp in DL Block from early morning. “We also offer chairs and water to voters who need rest on the way to and from the stations.”

A stone’s throw away was the Left Front base. “As the day progresses many like-minded people will come and occupy our seats,” said Gopal Das, a DL Block resident. “We aren’t interacting with the other camp but there’s mutual respect. We are all neighbours. It’s only during the corporation elections that outsiders took over.”

At the BJP camp in EE Block, Gobindo Ghosh said this was the first time they were allowed to sit at their camp. “Before this, the ruling party would send bikers to intimidate us,” said Swadesh Majumdar, who was bashed up twice in a previous vote.

Under the Left umbrella at the same spot, Sanjit Banerjee was heard telling Samir Mondal of the TMC camp: “I heard your song on Facebook the other day!”

Mondal acknowledged the compliment and even backed it up with some film dialogues. “We are all neighbours,” said Mondal. “We could even share tea and chat with them.”

At IB Block, people sat chatting under twin umbrellas. One was TMC’s and the other an Independent candidate’s. Which candidate? Well, the man sitting at the table racked his brains but could not recall the name of the person he was representing.

Sakti Prasad Majumdar of the TMC booth cleared the air. “That umbrella is for Swapan Majumdar - but not the BJP guy. It’s a dummy candidate so it’s as good as ours,” he said.

His colleague Subhasis Chakraborty said they were enjoying the day. “Puja and vote…these are the only two occasions when everyone comes out and we get a chance to meet. Neighbours are being very nice too. They’ve been sending us tea and bel panna,” he said.

Sticks and stones

At New Town, however, the mood was downright hostile. “TMC had set up their camp less than 200m away from the booth at the college. When I went to complain about it, their goons shoved me,” said Syed Ashif Hossain, from the Forward Block camp.

Hossain was a candidate at the panchyat elections last year and alleged he was not allowed to step out of his BA Block home the day of the vote. “Even today, the men at the camp told me they’ll ‘deal with me’ in the evening after elections,” he said.

Susanta Nag at a Left camp near Golbari in New Town conceded he was scared sitting with just two comarades. “Bikers are coming from Gouranganagar to abuse and intimidate us from the morning. Last year they broke our camp,” he said.

Another Left camp near The Newtown School was occupied only by senior citizens. “After the panchayat polls, people have been scared to go out and vote. But seeing elderly people seated here on our own they are mustering courage to walk to the booths,” said Pratip Pal.

The men at TMC camps, however, claimed they were being maligned. “We are only here to help voters. There is no trouble today, there was none last year,” said Prasenjit Chongdar, sitting at a camp near The Newtown School.

Lunch break

At the Left camp nearby, Ajoy Bhattacharya, 88, had been sitting from 5am to 10, after which he went home to freshen up, grab a bite, and return to his base. “We have to look into our food and tea ourselves. You see, we aren’t sponsored by electoral bonds,” quipped Bhattacharya, taking a stab at the BJP and the TMC. The Left Front had declined the use of electoral bonds for raising party subscription.

At the SUCI camp inside Balaka Abasan, the adults went home for lunch, leaving behind a bunch of schoolchildren to hold fort. But those like Nilanjan Das, of Class IX, did a decent job of echoing the party rhetoric for anyone who asked. “Winning elections is not as important as having ideals,” said the lad who is still years away from voting. “We need government schools and hospitals, we need jobs, we want an end to corruption and the Adani-Ambani raj.”

Cohabitation was the order of the day at local MLA Sujit Bose’s den Sreebhumi as well where the tables of the Trinamul and the CPM stood next to each other, opposite Satadal Club on Canal Street. “They were seated across the road but shifted next to us in the shade when the sun got too much,” said Debashis Ghosh, who sat with his back to the TMC table along with Tapan Ganguly with the Forward Bloc’s flags tied to the table.

The group at the Trinamul table was bigger and much younger. “They are our elders in the area. There is no question of disrespecting them. Our leader Sujit Bose asks us to move with people of all colours,” said Tamal Mitra, one of the boys, as he asked some women, who were seeking food packets, to wait for their turn.

But nothing could beat the camaraderie at Karunamoyee, where the three leading parties had camps almost adjacent to one another. “After 6pm today, we’ll again merge as one so why generate animosity now,” said Ritesh Basak, who was part of the Left camp but was found chilling at the BJP one. “This tent was empty so we came over. We have been sharing chairs and food too.”

The worker at the BJP camp returned just then and conceded that the other parties had indeed been enquiring what they were having for lunch. “We have pulao-mangsho, while the other parties had biriyani and fried rice-chili chicken. So someone hopping around could have tasted all cuisines today,” he said, asking not to be named.

Dibyajyoti Basu of the TMC tent agreed. “We may belong to different parties by day, but at night we all meet for adda together,” he said.

Write to saltlake@abp.in