Kolkata confidential

Speaker has spoken
The “pain” of Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee has touched hundreds of his followers in West Bengal. Chatterjee’s remark — “I have donated my body to a hospital — I am going to the hospital with the scar,” in an interview with The Indian Express,has shaken the upholders of the party’s Stalinist dogma. Those who justified Chatterjee’s expulsion,calling him “arrogant”,are now red-faced. Worse,for the first time,Chatterjee had come out in the open regarding Jyotibabu’s “request” to him to quit,putting to rest the rumours that alleged that he had turned down the veteran leader. There had been none,he had clarified,adding for good measure that had there been one,he would have done it “unquestionably,unhesitatingly”. Alimuddin Street is yet to hazard a comment on the interview. But does it mean that the ball is now in the court of Subhas Chakraborty,Chatterjee’s erstwhile champion?

What’s in a name
It was a rare faux pas by city mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya. At a gathering in what Bhattacharyya assumed was Boral (near Garia),he dwelt for long on his experiences when the area had no civic amenities worth speaking of. And he went on to glorify efforts of KMC,which had done “so much” for the place. The speech was well received and people applauded at every word. But at the end of it,a senior citizen politely pointed out to the mayor that those new sewerage connections and civic services he was glorifying were made available in Gosthatala Kamdahari in Garia,not Boral. In fact,the place he was speaking at was Boral either,but Gosthatala Kamdahari. A visibly embarrassed mayor could only laugh off the matter saying the two areas were the same and what was there in a name.