Even among her well wishers, whose number seems to grow by the day, there were some pre-poll apprehensions. In power, the argument ran, she would not keep her numerous promises to all sections of the people. The CPI(M) state leadership was convinced that she and her party would crumble in no time , going under the high burden of popular expectations they had aroused.

If the first fifteen days are any indication, it is the grizzled left veterans who are in for a shock. The irrepressible, unpredictable lady of Bengal politics shows no signs of falling flat on her face. On the contrary, decisions announced by her indicate that she is implementing a well drafted plan and carrying out action that had been debated earlier.

No wonder old Left faces look more worried and confused in party offices which are no longer as well attended as before. It is increasingly apparent that for the last four or five years, left leaders have not been governing the state at all. They have been far too busy in what they usually do best : sitting in their armchairs and analysing world economic and political trends . If teachers stopped teaching in West Bengal schools, garbage was not removed by conservancy staff, anti-socials took over hospitals and railway stations, it was tough luck for the people. The administration or the ruling party hardly existed.

This failure is justified by pro left intellectuals with the argument, “In the present system, a democratically elected state government can provide only minor relief, not bring about major changes, for the people.” Needless to say neither the poor, nor the middle classes so despised by the orthodox left, were ever convinced by such spurious logic. They could see for themselves how states like Punjab, Haryana, Karnataka, Gujarat or Maharashtra had progressed in recent years, under the same system. The only difference was that common people had been spared the vitriolic anti-imperialist lecturing by soapbox left orators.

Ms Banerjee has used her advantages well. She is advised by a strong team of seasoned ex bureaucrats and intellectuals, many of them victims of blinked left obscurantism in their time. And she heeds their advice. She makes it a point to visit at least one government office or another daily, from official hospitals to the police barracks.

Already daily attendance and punctuality in the state secretariat and district hospitals have improved remarkably. Even traffic jams have become more manageable than before in the vulnerable Behala and adjacent areas, thanks to her drive.

Clearly she is pursuing the Nitish Kumar model of governance in Bihar. There, Mr. Kumar had ensured that the police functioned free of political interference against criminals, improved road network and connectivity in the rural areas, and provided cycles to girls coming to school from deep interior areas. There was nothing revolutionary in these steps, which were carried out silently and effectively, without the strident Marxist rhetoric about impending world revolutions and the imperialist conspiracies, as in Bengal.

Also, Ms Banerjee arranged for their payment of salaries on the first of every month for teachers and others, fulfilling another major demand. The administration helped by local people is ruthlessly recovering hidden arms from Hooghly, Midnapore, Burdwan and other districts, mostly piled up by CPI(M) activists. The sheer quantities and varieties of the weapons seized, some crude and some sophisticated, are mind boggling. “In the last 34 years, the left parties have not been able to improve either agriculture or industry, but surely they could take the prize for encouraging home-made production of illegal weapons,” Ms Banerjee has said. There has not been a single voice in dissent.

The only people unhappy are in the left camp, for understandable reasons. Their explanation that the police have put the weapons in the CPI(M) offices is too laughable for comment. Their claim that 12 supporters have been killed by TMC anti socials also has not evoked any public response, let alone anger.

Among other steps taken by the Government so far : a thorough scrutiny to check the academic record and past of senior academicians in colleges and universities, to weed out political operatives; a reduction in the power and authority enjoyed by politicised syndicates of teachers ; a reconstitution of most academic bodies serving education and culture; the freeing of Presidency College from Government control and mediocrity; a coordination among the civic bodies and development agencies to reduce time taken to carry out projects; a speeding up of urban development and railway projects to strengthen infrastructure…. The list could be continued. And all this within the first fifteen days.

As for developments within the Left camp, there has been a twin response. At a public rally in Kolkata, their first after the polls, Left leaders proved that they are bad losers. Defeated Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee warned the TMC that it was under watch and its anti-people policies would be challenged. And leader of Left opposition in the state Assembly, Suryakanta Mishra, led a deputation to the Chief Minister, alleging attacks made by the TMC against Left leaders and party offices. The CPI(M) also called for reports from district units on the poll debacle , but no new programmes were announced.

Clearly, the left has run out of ideas. Leaders are unsure whether to begin an immediate agitation against the TMC or to wait, exposing their own version of a Hamlet-like dilemma. The most apt comment belonged to Ms Banerjee “We have been in power only 10 days and this is how the react! We can only pity them.” (IPA Service)