Grey or black? It is literally a ‘hair-splitting' choice for voters in West Bengal's Howrah Central Assembly segment between the candidates of the Communist party of India (Marxist) and the Trinamool Congress.
Bearing the same name — Arup Ray — even the two candidates were initially at a loss over how to go about campaigning without causing a case of mistaken identity. They finally decided to go with hair colour to differentiate themselves.
While the CPI(M)'s Arup Ray, the sitting MLA, is grey-haired, the mop of Arup Ray of the Trinamool Congress, who unsuccessfully contested Assembly elections thrice since 1996, is jet black.
The CPI(M)'s Ray says that grey symbolises stability and experience; the Trinamool's Ray points out that black stands for youth and energy. The moral of the story: it matters if you're black or white.
