As India votes, a streetwise pol proves pragmatism often trumps ideology

In March, the longtime local politician quit his centrist, secular Trinamool Congress party and accepted the right-wing, Hindu nationalist BJP’s offer to run for Parliament in the national elections currently underway. In America, it would be difficult to imagine Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis running for president as a Democrat after failing to secure the 2024 Republican nomination. But in northern Kolkata, longtime Trinamool voters have shrugged at Roy’s leap across the aisle, saying they’ll support Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, too.