Co-operation on lips of Asok & Deb

Deb greets Bhattacharya at Uttarkanya in Siliguri on Monday. Picture by Kundan
Yolmo

AVIJIT SINHA and BIRESWAR BANERJEE, TT, Siliguri, June 8: The meeting between Siliguri mayor Asok Bhattacharya and state minister Gautam Deb today was in many senses a reflection of how the Left's fortunes had dipped in the region, while Trinamul's has only risen.

The position that north Bengal development minister Deb occupies today in the region was the one Bhattacharya vacated when the Left was thrown out of power by Mamata Banerjee.

Siliguri was very much Bhattacharya's fief - he was earlier the urban development minister and has now returned as its mayor.

Still, in the 30 years they hot-footed in the political arena, this was the first meeting Deb and Bhattacharya had across the table.

That table today had cake, sweets and tea. On the two sides, both leaders sat with wide grins, if only for the media photo-bombing.

Bhattacharya went to meet Deb today at his office in Uttarkanya a little after noon. He had earlier been denied a meeting with municipal affairs minister Firhad Hakim and panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee in Calcutta.

Following this, Bhattacharya had expressed doubt whether he would at all meet Deb.

The big word that was heard after the meeting today was "co-operation".

Rival Congress, however, thought what it heard was "compulsion".

In a time of Left electoral drought, Bhattacharya's ability to win the Siliguri Municipal Corporation is being seen as a sign of hope in the Left camp. But Bhattacharya, a seasoned politician, knows that without the state's "co-operation", the SMC would be a lame duck.

Former mayor Gangotri Dutta's biggest grouse was that the state government did not release funds for running the SMC.

There is also a possibility that Bhattacharya may contest from Siliguri in the Assembly elections that are a year away.

Deb, too, would contest from the Dabgram-Fulbari constituency in the Assembly polls. The seat has several wards of the SMC under it.

Deb would also be mindful that Trinamul's alleged stonewalling of the Congress-run SMC board has not gone down well with sections of Siliguri's population.

Hence, the "co-operation", the Congress said today.

A Congress leader, who did not want to be named, said: "It is nice to see the two political leaders of Siliguri meeting and greeting each other. It was also good to hear that both have agreed to keep politics aside and take joint strides to expedite Siliguri's development.

"However, we doubt whether the only reason of the meeting is development. Both leaders have clear political compulsions as Asok Bhattacharya has the pressure to perform as a mayor and Gautam Deb cannot simply route funds to his department... while overlooking Siliguri."

A Trinamul leader, asked about the sudden bonhomie after Bhattacharya could not meet Trinamul ministers in Calcutta, said: "The mayor, in all likelihood, will be pitted in the MLA's post from the Siliguri Assembly seat (which covers 33 wards of the SMC). Also, the north Bengal development minister will again contest from Dabgram-Fulbari (comprising 14 wards of the SMC and four panchayats on the outskirts of the town). It is natural that both have to work in SMC area together."

State government officials, who have worked with both the leaders, said it was a "dual-purpose meeting".

"Both are mature politicians and felt the need to join hands to reinforce their own political careers.... It is a common practice seen in other states where politicians compete in a cordial political environment to outwit the other side by expediting development," an official said.

The official added that in Bengal it was uncommon "that a mayor and a state minister from opposite parties vouching to jointly work together".

Bhattacharya was all appreciation for the Uttarkanya building, which he entered for the first time today. He had once wondered why such a secretariat was required to be made at the cost of public money.

He later said: "The meeting was cordial and successful. We will work together with mutual co-operation and will consult the minister at regular intervals. The north Bengal development department and the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority will consult us on any project taken up in the SMC area. On our part, we will provide suggestions and all possible help for Siliguri's development."

The minister, sitting next to him, also spoke of cooperation. "We have apprised the mayor of the current projects taken up by NBDD and SJDA in the SMC area. All the projects will be finished in appropriate time. We do not want to play politics over development," Deb said.

Nantu Paul, the leader of Trinamul in SMC, was appreciative. "It is a good sign that the mayor met the minister and discussed developmental issues. We look forward to see that development is carried out in Siliguri by the civic board much like the state government," he said.

Both the leaders smiled and posed for photographs while vigorously shaking hands, a rare scene in political and administrative circles of the state.

It is not known, though, if Bhattacharya tasted anything from the spread of cake and sweets.