The remains of a government tourist bungalow blown up by a landmine, gun-toting security forces on patrol, sentries keeping close watch from bunkers and BSF jawans sanitising areas with mine detectors these are enough proof that Binpur, going to polls on April 17, is a Maoist-infested constituency.
Former minister Shambhu Mandi of the Communist Party of India-Marxist is locked in a close fight with the Jharkhand Party (N) candidate Chunibala Hansda, whose party has aligned itself with the Congress.
Mandi won this seat in the 2001 Assembly election defeating Hansda, by 9,452 votes, when she first contested the seat following her husband Naren Hansda's death.
The Maoists ensured that this predominantly rural and tribal constituency bordering Jharkhand, which is surrounded by hills and forests, was never out of the headlines.
In February, three policemen and a villager were killed in a landmine blast triggered by the Maoists near Belpahari and two CPI-M leaders were killed in front of their family members at Dangardiha village last month.
The CPI-M bagged this seat for the first time in 1977. Mandi clocked victories from this constituency in 1977 and 1982.
The constituency changed hands in 1991, when Jharkhand Party's Naren Hansda wrested it from the CPI-M and repeated his victory in the subsequent polls in 1996 in a close finish.
He scrapped through, defeating CPI-M's Durga Tudu by just 484 votes.
Poll observers say that this time too, it won't be a cakewalk for the CPI-M.
Hansda cited that in the last election, Baburam Tudu, a rebel Jharkhand candidate had polled over 9,000 votes.
"This time there is no rebel Jharkhand nominee in the fray. This will certainly be advantageous for us," she said.
But an undeterred Mandi said this will actually help him. "People will see that all the zaminders and big landlords have come together against the poor advises," he said.
The shadow of the Maoists who have given a poll boycott call, looms large over this constituency although both CPI-M and Harahan Party aspirants are confident that ultimately the voters will exercise their franchise.
"Some incidents have taken place and they may be frightened. The Maoists were born out of CPI-M infighting. We have to allay their fear. I am sure they will vote to defeat the CPI-M," she said.
Refusing to attach much importance to the poll boycott call, the CPI-M candidate said, "Bursa Monad who fought the British was the leader of the advises. Why should they be afraid of Maoists who are nurtured by the landlords?"
But people in some remote villages were in a fix over whether to vote or not in the wake of the Maoists' call.
Pare Singh Mud, who runs a small tea stall on the outskirts of Also village, where five people had reportedly died of starvation, said, "They (Maoists) left behind some posters with the boycott call here."
Observers feel if people in far flung villages stayed away from voting, it might give the CPI-M a slight edge, as the Harahan Party has substantial presence in the areas.