Is Mamata Banerjee shaken? Her recent statement on Kolkata’s flooding suggests so. “If I can come back again, I will show what I can do,” the West Bengal chief minister said while inaugurating a Durga Puja celebration. She said “If” and not “When”— a telling choice of word that hints at uncertainty over Trinamool Congress’s prospects in the upcoming Assembly elections due in March-April next year.

The incessant rains turned Kolkata into a floating city. Nine people reportedly died due to electrocution. What stood out was Mamata’s decision to criticise the CPM and the BJP, parties that have little to do with the city’s civic mess. She has been in power since 2011. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation is also under her party’s control, with close aide Firhad Hakim serving as mayor since 2018. Hakim also doubles up as cabinet minister for urban development, municipal affairs and housing. The CPM has been out of power for nearly 15 years, and the BJP, despite its best efforts, is far from forming a government in the state. If the city’s infrastructure is crumbling or proves inadequate, the blame lies squarely with the state government and the civic body.

The moot point begging for an answer is: why shift the blame to parties that have no say in the state’s affairs? And more importantly, why couldn’t she........

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