How political graffiti is being wiped out from the walls in Bengal

Forward Bloc candidate from Barasat Sanjib Chatterjee is facing a peculiar problem. In the Rajarhat area of his constituency, he is not finding a suitable person to draw the party’s symbol, an open-mouthed lion with flowing mane. “It needs an expert artist to draw a lion on a wall with paint and brush. These days, not many are associated with the profession, so we are not finding any suitable artist to draw the symbol,” said local party functionary Parimal Mistri. The dilemma the Forward Bloc is facing is indicative of the slow death the art form is facing in West Bengal, the cradle of political graffiti in India. “The mode of campaigning is changing now. Wall writings are being replaced with memes, digital posters, reels and videos circulated on social media. Gone are the days when parallel competitions used to be waged on the walls of the cities and towns,” said Somnath Choudhury, a veteran graffiti artist from South Kolkata. Not too long ago, creative art works ranging from witty political slogans to caricatures of political leaders, adorned the walls, giving some comic relief from violence and intimidation—another integral part of Bengal politics. “Not that writings on the walls were...