True, there is confirmation of what was already known, that the LF at this writing, is heading for certain defeat in the 2011 Assembly polls. But what of the future short and long term? What kind of civic services can taxpayers expect?

The question arises because Trinamool Congress supremo Ms Mamata Banerjee has banned her party colleagues from attending any meeting called by the state government on any issue. The ban extends to all party meetings at the state, district and panchayat levels.

So what will happen if Minister for Urban Development, Mr Ashok Bhattacharya, for instance, invites the new Trinamool Mayor of the city of Kolkata, Mr. Sobhan Chatterjee, to a meeting at the state secretariat to discuss a proposed scheme for garbage clearance or traffic management? Will Mr. Chatterjee go or ignore the invitation?

Unless granted permission from the Union Railway Minister, Mr. Chatterjee will in all likelihood, not attend. This will be par for the course, because earlier, Union MOS Shipping and Transport, Mr.Mukul Roy, made history recently, not for announcing better cargo handling facilities at the Haldia port, but for walking out of an official function where Mr. Bhattacharya was present as an invitee.

His move provided good copy to newsmen and occasioned much thoughtful editorialising in the press, but attending state and central officials were amused no end, especially the outstation invitees, as they witnessed yet another “Bengali” squabble !

This new “tradition” continues with Ms Banerjee herself setting another recent example by publicly rebuking state Housing Minister Gautam Deb, whose apparent crime was to invite her to an official function. Naturally, Left parties as well as senior Central Minister Pranab Mukherjee have criticised such Trinamool behaviour, but to no avail.

And if what recently happened at the Municipal Corporation of Kolkata premises is an indication of things to come, citizens had better prepare themselves for greater ordeals in the months ahead.

Mayor designate Chatterjee, former councilor himself, set a precedent of sorts last week by summoning civic officials to an impromptu meeting to discuss water logging and other issues, accompanied by an entourage. He did this for two days, although as Mayor incumbent Bikash Bhattacharye rightly pointed out, he could not do this until he had been sworn in! And Bhattacharya's tenure was scheduled to end on June 16. For good measure, Chatterjee had parked his car at the place normally reserved for the vehicle used by the city's first citizen, a clear, cheap act of needling.

Eventually, Chatterjee accepted a comedown, as first his car was gently removed to a different slot on the parking lot and on the second day, the civic commissioner politely ignored his call to attend a meeting, as he was in conference with the incumbent Mayor.

The entire episode, petty and sordid as it is, symbolises the state of West Bengal politics. Bhattacharya's fuming is understandable, even if his poor record as the city's Mayor is not. The man has virtually allowed migrant hawkers from north India to take over every inch of the city's pavements, exposing taxpayers to daily traffic hazards, apart from allowing all kinds of illegal encroachment on official land. Just prior to the civic polls, the government had suddenly given appointment to hundreds of people, clearly with an eye to winning votes.

On the other hand, Chatterjee”s self-defence, namely that he saw nothing wrong in calling such impromptu meetings because the monsoon was approaching and he had a right to know what the civic body was planning to do to prevent water logging, did not cut much ice either. His leader Ms Banerjee, said Chatterjee, had instructed him to work hard, unlike his predecessor. The new team was here to make a difference, an understandable compulsion in view of the coming Assembly polls.

Should the much harassed citizens then, feel comforted that now some people were actually working overtime to make things more comfortable for them this monsoon? Hold your horses! Officials attending meetings of both “Mayors” told them the same thing — given present conditions, they could give no guarantee about reducing water logging this monsoon. (IPA)