Kolkata: West Bengal voted six months ago. The state's loudest political argument is still between its chief minister and a man from another party.
Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has dared Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee to contest the Diamond Harbour seat against him in 2029, saying he would defeat him by a margin larger than the one Banerjee won by in 2024. It is the sharpest turn yet in an exchange that has run since the assembly results.
The backdrop is a party in pieces. The assembly defeat, and the split inside the Trinamool Congress in which a majority of its Lok Sabha MPs and MLAs broke away from Mamata Banerjee, has left the former chief minister and her nephew fighting for the party's future.
Banerjee is taking fire from two directions at once. The BJP has accused him of corruption during Trinamool's years in power. Rebels from his own party have blamed him for the electoral setback and cited his leadership as the reason they walked out.
Diamond Harbour is a Lok Sabha seat he holds. For the voters there, the chief minister's challenge puts at least one concrete contest with a date on it in front of them. For the rest of the state, it is a reminder that Bengal's realignment is not finished.
Neither the BJP nor Banerjee has said whether the dare has the party's backing or whether it will be accepted.
The next general election is more than two years away. Municipal polls in the state come first. Until then, this quarrel will keep the state's attention on two men rather than on the assembly, where a new government is still settling into office.