Everyone loves a good fight. In Bengal, the high-octane verbal spat between Narendra Modi and Mamata Banerjee this election season, is a huge source of entertainment and amusement. It’s being watched with rapt attention, and is getting more eyeballs than TV soaps.

Unlike most fights, however, there’s no suspense about the outcome of this one. “Didi will win. No-one can defeat her in Bengal,’’ says an iron merchant in north Kolkata’s Shyam Bazaar, where Mamata’s former right-hand man, Sudip Bandyopadhyay – out on bail after 136 days in prison, in connection with the Rs 17,000 crore Rose Valley scam – is locked in a tight contest with prominent BJP national secretary Rahul Sinha.

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