The changing colours of Didi (but take it with a pinch of saffron)

The colours chosen by Mamata Banerjee in the recent past...

TT, 22 May 2015:  Mamata-watchers were tickled pink (or orange) on Thursday when the chief minister turned up for an administrative meeting in a sari with a generous dash of a colour usually not associated with her wardrobe. 

...and the one on Thursday in Madhyamgram. 
Picture by Sanjib Chaki

A shade of saffron marked the border (paar in Bengali) and aanchal — a choice that would not have drawn attention had it not been for recent political developments.

“Her favourite colour has always been blue…. We have also seen her in saris with green and black borders but I can’t recall saffron,” said a Mamata confidant for over three decades.The colour did catch the eye of some bureaucrats at the administrative session at Madhyamgram in North 24-Parganas but they said it probably meant nothing.

However, one intrepid official ventured to suggest that Mamata, whose sense of timing is unrivalled, might have chosen the shade to add “colour” to the breathless speculation about her so-called “bonhomie” with the BJP-led Centre and watch the fun. “One can’t read too much into it…. But the chief minister likes sending subtle messages at times. Whether there is a message here is anybody’s guess,” the bureaucrat said.

Since the colour became a topic of “serious” discussion, The Telegraph decided not to take a jaundiced view and spoke to a psychologist.Over to psychologist Anindita Ray Chaudhury: “One can generally say that the person who is experimenting with new colours and changing preferences is flexible. But too frequent change of colour preference often gives an impression of fickle-mindedness.”

Amit Shah

Switching from the frivolous to the graver matter of realpolitik, The Telegraph asked BJP national president Amit Shah what his party’s Bengal policy was and whether the highs and the lows in the Saradha probe had something to do with the Centre’s periodic outreach towards Mamata. 

Shah, fielding questions at a “summit gathering” organised by ABP News in New Delhi, said: “The BJP is looking earnestly to strengthen its base in West Bengal. I have no doubt that it will be a strong force to reckon with by the time the (Assembly) elections come. As for the phases in the CBI’s investigation, they will be different at different stages. When a chargesheet is filed against a leader, it will generate a lot of excitement and give an impression that the probe has gained big traction. When the investigations are on, it will look like there is a lull. We never use the CBI to coerce or cajole other parties. If that were to happen, Mamata would have supported our land acquisition bill.” 

Which one is easier to figure out, the inscrutable Shah or the multi-coloured wardrobe of Mamata Banerjee?