Shekhar Gupta: Modi meets his match in Mamata

Modi & Shah are street-fighters trying to win Bengal through Hindu-Muslim polarisation. But Mamata is fighting their poison with her own

You can pick your metaphor: It takes iron to break iron. Diamond cuts diamond. If you so wish, you can even say, poison is the only antidote to poison. It means the same thing. But the last may be more appropriate, given that the election campaign we are talking about is our most venomously bitter yet.

The tone has been set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Nobody can deny him that proud distinction. From calling opponents anti-national, in cahoots with Pakistan, families on bail/halfway to jail, and so on. His party chief Amit Shah and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath