Located in the eastern part of Bankura district, the block-level town of Onda has emerged as a political hotspot.At the heart of this Assembly constituency, where the BJP catapulted to the top five years ago after remaining for long in the fringe, the electoral mood is fraught with grievances over agrarian distress, lack of infrastructure, and limited local employment.Onda was once ruled by the All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) of the Left Front. It was won by the TMC in 2011, and it held the seat for two consecutive terms until 2021, when BJP’s Amarnath Shakha emerged victorious, garnering 46 per cent vote share.One of the seven segments under the Bishnupur Lok Sabha constituency, this Assembly seat covers the entire Onda community development block, along with four gram panchayats of the Bankura II block. Agriculture remains the backbone of the local economy, with paddy as the principal crop, alongside potato, sesame, and grains grown in three cycles annually.The Onda region forms a transitional terrain between the plains and the low hills of the Chota Nagpur Plateau fringe. The soil is a mix of lateritic and alluvial type, interlaced with rivers and rivulets, which are connected to Dwarakeswar river, making the local economy dependent on agriculture.However, farmers here are grappling with falling prices for their produce, the absence of cold storage, and inadequate access to the markets.At Singhati village, close to 300 farming families stare at severe losses after a bumper potato harvest but no buyers. With no storage facilities, the potatoes lie scattered in the fields, often rotting.Story continues below this adAs one walks into the house of local farmer Daroga Mandi, one sees he is busy packing potatoes in sacks.“This time we are being given Rs 2 per sack (50 kilos), and these sacks in which we are storing the potatoes cost us Rs 45. Last year we got good prices, but this time nothing. After potatoes, sesame seeds will be harvested, followed by grains, but we do not have money for that,” he said.Others like Urmila Mandi pointed to the absence of basic infrastructure despite such facilities in nearby areas like Indas and Kotulpur in the Bishnupur subdivision.“There are no proper roads and infrastructure here. These are agricultural areas. So, each district should have cold storage for any crop. In Indas and Kotolpur in Bishnupur subdivision under the Bankura districts, there are cold storages, but not here… We have thrown the excess crop in the field. It is hard to see it rot,” Urmila Mandi said.Story continues below this adApart from agriculture, Ramsagar in Onda is known for sweet-water fish hatcheries. The red soil roads lead to around 200 to 250 hatcheries lined one after the other, which employ close to 2000 workers.Despite being a major hub for Indian Major Carp seed production, which involves spawning using synthetic hormones or pituitary extracts, followed by hatching, nursing, and rearing to meet aquaculture demand for fish farming, hatchery owners cite multiple bottlenecks.“The fish industry is booming. Close to 70 to 80 percent of the fish spawn is transported all over the country. Like the fish that comes to Bengal from Andhra Pradesh, the eggs go from here. But we do not have the infrastructure to sustain the entire procedure from birth to the growth of the fish. If we had, then the fish industry would have prospered more,” Kaushik Nayak, a hatchery owner, told The Indian Express.According to other hatchery owners, there is also the issue of monopoly that has led many small hatchery owners to go out of business or hang by a thin thread. They further alleged that long-distance transport often leads to high mortality rates and increased costs, along with harassment by the police, which leads to further losses. According to them, a key demand across the sector is for proper roads connecting hatcheries to nearby rivers and rivulets.Story continues below this adApart from these constraints lie the issue of widespread migration, with at least one member working outside the state in several households. Although many locals rely on the government welfare schemes, they also depend on remittances from their migrant family members.Sudha Mandi, a beneficiary of the Laxmi Bhandar scheme and helping her in-laws in potato farming, said that her husband is a migrant labourer in Chennai.“There is no job here, and if the entire family depends only on farming, then if the crop fails, it will become a problem. Thus, my husband works in Chennai and sends money to us, which helps us get over these difficult times,” she said.“When the TMC was in power from 2011-2021, there had been development work of Rs 550 crore. But after BJP’s Amarnath Shakha won this seat in 2021, he did not keep any of the promises other than installing solar lights,” TMC candidate Subrata Dutta, who is the party’s district unit president and contesting the Assembly polls from Onda for the first time, said.Story continues below this adDutta said that once he wins from Onda, he plans to set up cold storages in the constituency and improve the condition of the roads so that fish farming can become a booming industry.“This is an agricultural area, and fish farming is also crucial. The TMC manifesto has promised to lease out government lands to fish farms and make concrete roads for their transportation. We will also arrange water for farming and build cold storages,” Dutta added.According to Dutta, for development, the panchayat, block, zilla, and the MLA have to work together, but in the case of Ramsagar, the panchayat and the MLA are from the BJP, and the zilla is under TMC, which is why there is some hindrance.Rejecting the TMC’s charge, BJP candidate Amarnath Shakha said, “There has not been any development in the entire West Bengal. Throughout the state, the potato farmers have been adversely impacted.”Story continues below this adShakha, who has been contesting the Assembly polls from Onda since 2011, alleged that the TMC government did not provide any cold storages nor did they make arrangements for the excess crops to be sold in other states.“There is a need for cold storages here, but under the TMC MLA, none were built. We have never been called for meetings in the BDO (Block Development Officer) office or by the DM (District Magistrate). This government shows no concern for small farmers. If we have a double-engine government, we will build cold storages and the fisheries industry will be booming here,” Shakha, who won by a margin of over 11,000 votes, said.Following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), the electorate has shrunk by 37,811 – from 2,70,555 in 2024 to 2,32,744 voters. While Scheduled Castes constitute 32.70 per cent, Scheduled Tribes 4.06 per cent, and Muslims 8.90 per cent of the electorate.Onda votes in the first phase of the Assembly elections on April 23. The counting of votes will take place on May 4.