Nadia, Gaighata, April 21 -- On a windy April afternoon, Gopal Sarkar is sitting at one of the tea shops along National Highway 12 in Haringhata assembly seat of Nadia district, 65 kilometres north of Kolkata. Between sips of tea, Ghosh seems confident that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is coming to power in West Bengal in the upcoming elections.

"Suvendu Adhikari (the BJP leader) will be the chief minister this time. Everyone wants change," Sarkar tells this at the tea shop on the way to Thakur Nagar, considered the 'Mecca of Matuas' in Gaighata Assembly constituency, in North 24 Paraganas voting on 29 April, the second phase of West Bengal elections.

When asked why TMC would lose, Sarkar replies promptly, 'Mamata Banerjee has been ...