Why ex-communists are joining Modi’s BJP in India’s West Bengal

With polls under way, many left-wing workers make ideological shift to right-wing party which has never ruled the state.

Nadia, West Bengal, India – Kumaresh Adhikari became a political activist much before turning 18 – the age when you can vote in an Indian election. In his teens, he would plaster the walls in his village in India’s eastern West Bengal state with posters of the party he believed in as he mobilised more activists to join the ranks. Five decades later, at 71, his commitment towards galvanising public support for political mobilisation has not changed. However, his political affiliation has.