India, April 13 -- At lunchtime in Dacre's Lane, the narrow stretch of food stalls tucked behind Kolkata's Esplanade, the usual rush hasn't changed --- office-goers still crowd around plates of chicken stew and rice, tea is poured endlessly into small glasses, and cigarettes pass quickly between fingers --- but as West Bengal heads into voting on April 23 and 29, something in the conversations feels different.

Election conversations and political discussions as well as debates are everywhere all the time and only get amplified during the election season. Yet unlike past campaigns marked by loud political certainty, many discussions now unfold in lowered voices, measured sentences and unfinished thoughts.

People still talk about the cont...