Kolkata was stifling on Saturday night, and not just because of the impending rain. It was the night before the city — and the state it is the capital of — would be put to a litmus test of its famed inclusive character. The Bengal of Tagore versus the Bengal of Syama Prasad Mookerjee.

The air was pregnant with portent and possibilities. Many had been convinced by the hype machine that the state was falling to the BJP juggernaut, finally. “Bengal is in such a hopeless state, let’s see what happens after the BJP takes over,” a newspaper owner from Mumbai said in January this year. Asked how he was so certain of a BJP victory, the person replied: “See how much money they have put in.”