A piercing miasma of urine and solid waste, generated both by humans and animals, strikes your nostrils at the Ara bus station as you step out of the vehicle. Unbeknownst to the all-pervasive olfactory intrusions, passengers and passersby flock to roadside eateries, doing brisk business, in the midst of a drizzle precipitated by the cyclonic turbulence in the Bay of Bengal.

“Maale (pronounced maa-lay as CPI (ML) Liberation is colloquially called) has a good candidate. Quyamuudin Ansari is a local and readily available,” says Pankaj Gupta, handing over a plate of samosas dunked in chickpea-potato curry.

Sounds a little odd, coming from a voter, from a traditional trading community in an urban setting, seen to be a BJP stronghold. But if you have crossed the Sone River west of the capital

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